Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are ridiculous orders of magnitude better than everyone else. This has to be reiterated every so often, in case it isn't clear. These two are from a different planet, everyone else is a human being that is pretty good at soccer.
Backheel Breakfast: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are still obliterating everyone else
A reminder that no one else is even that good.
Denis Doyle/Getty Images
Ronaldo scored five goals over the weekend, bringing his tally to 36 goals in 26 La Liga games this season. He has 47 in all competitions, through 41 games. Messi has a less impressive 32 La Liga goals and 43 in all competitions. The Barca man was ahead coming into this week and got totally blown by.
For comparison, here’s how the players in other top leagues are doing: Alexandre Lacazette has 24 goals, Diego Costa, Harry Kane and Alexander Meier all have 19, and Carlos Tevez has 17.
Just in case you needed that reminder.
In the news
FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein promises to invest more into women’s football if elected. (BBC)
David Luiz and Thiago Motta could miss the first leg of PSG's Champions League tie against Barcelona. (ESPN FC)
Black AC Milan players were racially abused at a U-10 game. (Goal.com)
Bastian Schweinsteiger could miss the DFB-Pokal quarterfinal with an ankle injury. (Bundesliga)
Referees in Argentina used video replay to get an important call right ... which caused a game to descend into chaos, because that’s illegal. (Mirror)
Brendan Rodgers has denied reports that a Liverpool team meeting was a crisis-indicating showdown talk. (Guardian)
Marco Verratti’s former agent says Italy don’t deserve him. (Football Italia)
Almeria have fired Juan Ignacio Martinez and replaced him with former Barca youth coach Sergi Barjuan. (AS)
You should be reading
James Yorke on the most interesting stats from the Premier League weekend. (Stats Bomb)
Michael Cox on Mauricio Pochettino’s indecision about Christian Eriksen’s role. (Guardian)
Samuel Marsden on the troubles with La Liga future TV plans. (Soccer Gods)
Fun with transfer rumors
The section in which nothing should be taken seriously.
Chelsea look pretty likely to bid for Koke. (Express)
Liverpool could sign Falcao for next season if Manchester United don’t want him. (Metro)
Edin Dzeko apparently wants to join Roma. (Football Italia)
This weekend’s games
Bayern Munich sneaked by Borussia Dortmund in der Klassiker.
PSG beat out Marseille in a five-goal thriller.
Sunderland beat Newcastle for the fifth time in a row.
Valencia and Villarreal were supposed to entertain, but produced no goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored five dang goals.
Barcelona were less impressive, but held serve with a win.
Arsenal had no problem thrashing Liverpool.
Roma beat Napoli in an important game in Italy’s Champions League race.
What to watch on Monday (click for listings, all times ET)
Espanyol vs. Elche (2 p.m.) - beIN Sports is still bothering with these mid- and lower-table La Liga Monday matches.
Crystal Palace vs. Manchester City (3 p.m.) - Watching City crash all the way out of the top four would be amusing.
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