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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUu_BqxBeCM In my opinion, this commercial for Euro 2004 best captures the spirit of modern football.

I would love to have a group of unbiased, knowledgeable football viewers watch the game, focusng on Pedro and Jesus "I want to play for Real Madrid" Navas. After the game, I'd ask, "Which one of those two players looked like they belonged on the national team?" I doubt many would choose Navas...

The one good thing is that his mistakes seem more mental than physical, which would suggest his recent run of form is temporary. I just hope age isn't catching up with him.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Barcelona doesn't need to get a big-name striker / winger. Bojan is 19 years old (20 by the start of next season), while Messi and Pedro are 22 (will be 23). I know making judgments based on a few games is tricky, but if Bojan and Pedro continue the...

Is there any position on defense he can't play well? Today gave us the answer (hint: NO).

He had some great assists (not sure if they are officially counted as such), made some excellent runs, and had some moments of peerless ball control as usual. However, he seemed reluctant to shoot, and what shots he got off were poor by his standards. Still, the fact that this is considered a...

It's great to see a player other than Messi who consistently makes his chances count. When he took a shot, it went on the goal, which is something that hasn't been the case for Barcelona for much of this year. It's good to get his confidence up before the games against Arsenal and Madrid.

Yes; maybe I'm wrong, but I thought Marquez was subbed in after the incident.

The previous criticism of Pedro is lack of assists. The past few games, he has been working to put that to bed. Excellent cross to Messi, and should have been a second assist to Zlatan.

The most encouraging part of his performance today, I thought, was his aerial crosses. I recently watched highlights of last year, and realized that those high crosses have been MIA this year. Today, he had several good deliveries.

Excellent game. He is the only non-starting CB who isn't a huge drop-off from Pique and Puyol.

He did a much better job with passing today. He had an assist for Messi, a potential assist for Iniesta, and some other plays where he stopped and passed inside. He still needs to learn how to kick aerial crosses, but he showed improvement in that facet of his game.

His crosses are getting better. The past few games his attempts were scattershot, but today he put them on the heads/feet of his targets.

That was as close to a perfect match as you can get by a midfielder. Incredible control of the ball, fast and accurate passing, creativity in the final third, and fantastic work rate (at times, when he was rushing ahead I almost mistook him for a forward). Messi obviously gets 1st place in Man...

ESPN reports that Marquez will stop playing international games for Mexico after the World Cup and focus on his club performances.

On behalf of Barcelona fans everywhere, we really should come up with a way to thank Lyon for their efforts in knocking out Real Madrid. Anyone with the creativity for a 'Hala Lyon' chant?

I was asking sincerely, not sarcastically. I'm still learning how to evaluate the game, and I wanted to know what you saw.

Was it bad defense? His offense looked pretty good (some nice passes, not too many lost balls) but I didn't really focus enough on his defense, so I can't say how well he did there. Then again, maybe I'm forgetting some mistakes with the ball.

According to Marca via Goal.com (I know, I know), Pique just agreed to a contract extension that keeps him at Barcelona until 2015.

Does anyone think that 1) Xavi is severely hampered by injury right now, and needs rest, and 2) playing him in his current state might be causing problems? Disclaimer: I was unable to watch the first half of the this Stuttgart match, but I saw the second half. I've seen several players harshly...