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PENALTY SHOOTOUT
Iniesta: GOAL! (ESP 1-0 RUS)
Smolov: GOAL! (ESP 1-1 RUS)
Piqué: GOAL! (ESP 2-1 RUS)
Ignashevich: GOAL! (ESP 2-2 RUS)
Koke: MISS! (ESP 2-2 RUS)
Golovin: GOAL! (ESP 2-3 RUS)
Ramos: GOAL! (ESP 3-3 RUS)
Cheryshev: GOAL! (ESP 3-4 RUS)
Aspas: MISS! (ESP 3-4 RUS)
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IT’S OVER! IT’S OVER! IT’S A MAJOR SHOCK!!! RUSSIA ARE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP QUARTERFINALS, AND THEY’VE KNOCKED OUT SPAIN!!!! INCREDIBLE UPSET!!!!
EXTRA-TIME FULL-TIME, Spain 1-1 Russia: We’re going to penalties!
HALFTIME OF EXTRA-TIME, Spain 1-1 Russia: Still very boring.
EXTRA-TIME FIRST HALF KICKOFF! Spain 1-1 Russia: Please be more exciting, Spain. Please.
END OF REGULATION, Spain 1-1 Russia: The second half featured some of the most boring football we’ve ever seen, and our reward for watching such a bad game is 30 minutes of extra-time! YAY!
SECOND HALF KICKOFF! Spain 1-1 Russia: Come on, Barça boys! Wake up!
HALFTIME, Spain 1-1 Russia: Spain took an early lead, and instead of going for the kill they just decided to pass the ball around and do nothing. Russia went forward, won a penalty, scored it and now this game is wide open. The second half should be a lot of fun.
GOAL! Spain 1-1 RUSSIA (Dzyuba 41’): Artem Dzyuba easily beats David De Gea from the spot and we’re level in Moscow!
PENALTY FOR RUSSIA! A corner in the box is headed by Dzyuba and the ball clearly hits Gerard Piqué’s raised left arm. VAR is looking at it, but it’s hard to think they’ll overturn it.
GOAL! SPAIN 1-0 Russia (Ignashevich O.G. 11’): Spain take the lead! Nacho wins a free-kick, Marco Asensio puts it in the box and the ball hits Sergei Ignashevich, who was wrestling Sergio Ramos and had his back turned to the play, and goes in. It’s a weird goal, but Spain will take it!
KICKOFF! Spain 0-0 Russia: Come on, Barça boys! Let’s do this!
LINEUPS
SPAIN
Starting XI: De Gea; Nacho, Piqué, Ramos, Alba; Koke, Busquets; Silva, Isco, Asensio; Costa
Bench: Kepa (GK), Reina (GK), Carvajal, Iniesta, Saúl, Rodrigo, Thiago, Vázquez, Odriozola, Azpilicueta, Monreal, Iago Aspas
RUSSIA
Starting XI: Akinfeev; Kutepov, Ignashevich, Kudryashov; Fernandes, Kuzyaev, Zobnin, Zhirkov; Samedov, Dzyuba, Golovin
Bench: Lunev (GK), Gabulov (GK), Semenov, Cheryshev, Gazinskii, Dzagoev, Smolov, Granat, Al.Miranchuk, An.Miranchuk, Erokhin, Smolnikov (out)
The second day of the World Cup Round of 16 is under serious pressure to deliver the same amazing action we saw from the first two games. France, Argentina, Uruguay and Portugal left everything on the pitch in two fantastic matches, and now it’s time for another four teams to prove they can also entertain us while fighting for a quarterfinal place.
We begin in Moscow where Russia will face Spain, and this should be fun. The host nation shocked the world with two amazing victories to start the group stage and qualify with a game to spare, but those wins were against Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Once they face quality opposition in the form of Uruguay, Russia struggled heavily and come into this Round of 16 game with plenty of doubts about their chances against one of the top teams in the world.
They might have a chance, however, since Spain are yet to really show their true quality. Apart from their fantastic performance in the opening match against Portugal, they’ve been mediocre at best, and at times they looked like a team that doesn’t have a manager. Which, you know, is the case here.
But the Spanish are just too talented, and they’ll most likely prove their real worth in an elimination game against the host nation. This should be a fun game, and Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Andrés Iniesta (forever a Blaugrana) will start and represent Barcelona in this one.
So join us for a live blog as soon as the team news are out!
MATCH INFO
Date/Time: Sunday, July 1st, 2018, 4pm CET (Barcelona), 3pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 9am EST, 6am PST (USA), 7.30pm IST (India)
Venue: Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM WORLD CUP
How to watch on TV: FOX (USA), BBC One (UK), SuperSport 3 (Nigeria), Sony ESPN (India), TSN (Canada), others
How to stream: BBC iPlayer (UK), FuboTV (7-day free trial, click here to sign up)
Matchday Thread Rules
We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:
Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, no swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do will be warned, and those who post links will be banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another, especially when it’s the World Cup.
Have fun with the game! Forever and ever, no matter the competition, VISCA EL BARÇA!