Biser Todorov, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Lionel Messi is arguably the greatest footballer to ever play the game. The Argentinian maestro has broken records both in La Liga and on the international stage, having also claimed his first World Cup in 2022. Another prestigious football competition, the Champions League, is a tournament where…
Like the majority of professional football teams, FC Barcelona are no different by having a reserve team set-up within their club. With players like Lionel Messi having played for Barcelona B over the years, Barcelona’s reserve team plays a really important role in player development. A common questions that gets asked by La Liga supporters…
Having been founded in 1992, the Premier League started by having 22 teams in the competition, who each played 42 games a season. Shortly after its origin, the Premier League decided to reduce the amount of teams in the league to 20, but do you know why? In this Elastico article, we’re going to discuss…
Manchester City are one of two teams located in Manchester, England. They are Premier League powerhouses, being classed as one of the “top 6” sides in the country alongside Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham. Like most football clubs, Manchester City have a number of nicknames, used mainly by their supporters but also by…
Marco Verch, CC BY 2.0 Norwegian forward Erling Braut Haaland is one of the most discussed footballers on the planet. Having broken the record for the fewest number of games needed to score 20 Champions League goals at the ripe age of 20, it was always clear that Haaland was destined for greatness. So why…
The World Cup comes round every four years, and the most coveted tournament on the planet has thrown us some historical moments every time. When it comes to deciding which teams progress to the next stage of the competition, a standings systems comes into play. Do you know how FIFA’s standing system works? What happens…
Real Madrid, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Real Madrid and French international striker Karim Benzema has been a prolific goalscorer for the majority of his career, but why does Benzema have the nickname ‘El Gato’? In this Elastico article, we discuss when the nickname originated, which football manager gave the forward the nickname and…
Solent Creatives, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0), via Flickr Football is a high-intensity sport that requires 22 players to run for 90-minutes and sometimes more, but how far do footballers run exactly? In this detailed Elastico article, we’re going to break down this topic in full, including the difference between distances covered by position,…
Brazil have been regarded as one of the best footballing countries for some time now. They seem to have the incredible ability to continually produce world superstars such as Pelé, Ronaldinho, Kaká and many more. In this article, we ask, why is Brazil so good at football? We discuss the important role that futsal plays…
Jan S0L0, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Ronaldinho and Ronaldo are two of the most celebrated footballers of all time. The Brazilian and Portuguese forwards have won over hearts all across the globe for different reasons, helping young football fans fall in love with the game. In this article, we ask, who was better:…