It has been a busy week for Spanish football.

Sunday’s Clasico saw Real Madrid set one hand on the La Liga trophy after a thrilling 3-2 win over Barcelona, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side now preparing for a Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has been talking about staging games in the United States, while a noisy debate continues about introducing goal line technology after the ‘phantom goal’ by Lamine Yamal at the Bernabeu. Barca coach Xavi has changed his mind and after being set to leave at the end of the season, will now stay on at the club next campaign.

But by the end of the week, many headlines were about the government intervening in the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to try and clean up the mess still flowing from the exit of former president Luis Rubiales, after his behaviour at last summer’s Women’s World Cup.

Thursday saw the Spanish government’s Superior Sports Council (CSD) announce a new ‘commission of supervision, normalisation and representation’ to work with the RFEF to “initiate a stage of regeneration under a climate of institutional stability”.

But less than 24 hours later Pedro Rocha — handpicked by Rubiales as his successor — was formally named the new president, despite being one of…

Wednesday was another dramatic day in the saga involving former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales, as an investigation into alleged corruption during his term from 2018 to 2023 gathers pace.

The 46-year-old was detained by police officers and questioned about his role in potential crimes of money laundering and misuse of RFEF funds. Investigators believe Rubiales and a number of his associates were involved in a number of different schemes linking Spain, the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia and China.

Rubiales resigned as RFEF president in September, having already been provisionally suspended by FIFA for his behaviour after Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup, when he held his crotch in celebration just a few seats down from Queen Letizia and the 16-year-old Princess Sofia of Spain, before grabbing star forward Jenni Hermoso by the head and kissing her on the lips during the medal ceremony.

For his kiss on Hermoso, Rubiales is to go on trial on charges of alleged sexual assault and coercion (which he has always denied), with prosecutors seeking a two-and-a-half-year jail term.

Here, The Athletic explains the latest dramatic developments in Spanish football’s growing crisis, and the potential consequences for Rubiales and the RFEF.

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Why was Rubiales…

It’s raining in Galicia, with drops running down the windows at Celta Vigo’s recently opened Cidade Deportiva Afouteza training ground.

Bounding into the media room comes Rafa Benitez, still wearing his ‘RB’ personalised shorts and jersey, having just taken training with Celta — his 14th job in almost three decades managing at the top level.

Over that time, Benitez has won 13 trophies with six clubs in three countries, with highlights including two La Liga titles and the 2003-04 UEFA Cup with Valencia, the 2004-05 Champions League with Liverpool and the 2012-13 Europa League with Chelsea.

The 63-year-old took on a new challenge last summer, joining Celta on a three-year contract, and the team from Spain’s far north-west are currently 17th in the 20-team La Liga table, with wobbling champions Barcelona coming to town this weekend.

Benitez warmly welcomes The Athletic to his new workplace for an interview that often returned to one major theme — the importance of timing and opportunity in the career of a coach or manager.

This is an edited transcript of the conversation.

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The Athletic: Vigo seems quite like Liverpool — the rain, the river, the port…

Benitez: When I speak with my wife, who is there in Liverpool, I tell her, ‘It’s raining’. And she says, ‘Of…

Over the course of his 17 years as the most powerful figure in world football, Sepp Blatter was memorably characterised by the venerable British sportswriter Brian Glanville as someone who had 50 new ideas every day, “51 of them bad”.

There was the one where the then FIFA president said the key to attracting more interest in women’s football was for the players to wear “tighter shorts” to “create a more female aesthetic”; the one where he proposed games be split into four quarters; the one where he suggested the goal be made 50cm (19in) wider and 25cm taller; the one where he urged any player racially abused on the pitch to settle the matter by shaking hands with his abuser at the final whistle; the one where, with his regime finally crumbling in 2015, he declared he was the man to “clean up” FIFA.

But Blatter had his moments. He was highly influential in the introduction of the back-pass rule in 1992. He led FIFA’s clampdown on both time-wasting and the dreaded “tackle” from behind. Before he became an eccentric power-crazed FIFA president, he was a skilled administrator with a fervent passion for trying to modernise and improve the game.

One Blatter idea that fell by the wayside was something called “6+5”.

It was as controversial as it was intriguing….

Real Madrid duo Jude Bellingham and Linda Caicedo have won the 2023 Golden Boy and Girl awards.

The awards are presented by Italian outlet Tuttosport to the best under-21 players in men and women’s football.

Bellingham’s victory follows the 20-year-old midfielder collecting the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or awards in October, where he was recognised as the best under-21 player in world football.

As well as claiming the Kopa Trophy, Bellingham finished 18th in the senior men’s Ballon d’Or based on his performances for his previous club, Borussia Dortmund.

Bellingham moved to Real Madrid from Dortmund earlier in the summer transfer window and has so far earned plaudits for his exceptional performances, having scored 13 goals and assisted three times in 14 appearances across all competitions this season.

The England international managed to fend off competition from a range of nominees, including the likes of Rasmus Hojlund, Jamal Musiala and Benjamin Sesko, to pick up the prestigious award.

Caicedo, meanwhile, joined Real Madrid from Colombian side Deportivo Cali in February this year.

The 18-year-old was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 15, having previously made her professional debut the year before.

Caicedo has overcome cancer and starred at the World Cup…

If Chelsea’s opening Champions League group game had been played later on in the competition, the final result could have been very different.

Emma Hayes’ side ended up drawing 2-2 with Real Madrid on Wednesday in a match dominated by two big refereeing decisions which would surely have been the subject of a VAR intervention. VAR is not in place in the group stage – it only comes into effect in the knockout rounds – which left Chelsea rueing once again the way UEFA treats its showpiece competitions. 

Chelsea were 2-1 up when Danish referee Frida Klarlund awarded a penalty for a foul by Jessie Fleming on Athenea del Castillo, which clearly took place outside the box. They had come from behind after Olga Carmona’s deflected shot had put Real Madrid ahead, with goals from Niamh Charles and Sam Kerr making the score more reflective of a game Chelsea dominated. But with Carmona converting the penalty for her second goal of the evening, Madrid had a route back into the game out of nowhere.

The second call was perhaps more controversial, coming in the final minute of the game as Millie Bright launched a ball into the area that Charles connected with from a brilliant late run. The Chelsea away support’s…

Barcelona have announced they will wear shirts featuring rock band The Rolling Stones’ logo for this month’s Clasico against Real Madrid as part of their sponsorship deal with Spotify.

The Spanish side usually have Spotify as their front of jersey sponsor, having been locked in a four-year deal with the streaming platform since the beginning of last season.

Barcelona and Spotify adopted a similar approach last season when they confirmed their shirts would bear hip hop artist Drake’s OVO logo against rivals Real Madrid and they have now confirmed that The Rolling Stones’ logo, commonly known as ‘the tongue and lips logo,’ will be worn in the match on October 28.

In addition to El Clasico, the tongue and lips logo will feature on the front of the women’s jersey for the Liga F game against Sevilla on November 5 at Estadi Johan Cruyff.

The club said that The Rolling Stones’ logo has been chosen “because their latest album, ‘Hackney Diamonds’, is being released on October 20 and is their first album of original material in 18 years”.

A statement from The Rolling Stones said: “We’re huge football fans and honoured that Spotify have brought our tongue and lips logo to grace the FC Barcelona shirt to celebrate the release of the Stones’ new ‘Hackney…

Another one bites the dust…

Manchester United are the latest club to fall victim to the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) qualification system after losing to Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.

They are not the only ones: last year’s semi-finalists Arsenal and Wolfsburg, plus Juventus, have also failed to reach the competition’s group stages.

These teams have been outclassed but their absence is a blow for the overall tournament.

The current format, and its associated media and sponsorship rights, have reached the halfway point and will run until the end of the 2024-25 season. There will be no change before then, but discussions regarding what the future format looks like are underway.

“Before taking any decisions on how to best evolve the format of the competition in the future, UEFA consults with all its stakeholders,” read a UEFA statement to The Athletic. “Any new competition format proposal would have to be approved by the UEFA Women’s Football Committee before being submitted for approval to the UEFA Executive Committee.”

So should the UCWL change and, if so, how?

How does the current…

Another one bites the dust…

Manchester United are the latest club to fall victim to the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) qualification system after losing to Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.

They are not the only ones: last year’s semi-finalists Arsenal and Wolfsburg, plus Juventus, have also failed to reach the competition’s group stages.

These teams have been outclassed but their absence is a blow for the overall tournament.

The current format, and its associated media and sponsorship rights, have reached the halfway point and will run until the end of the 2024-25 season. There will be no change before then, but discussions regarding what the future format looks like are underway.

“Before taking any decisions on how to best evolve the format of the competition in the future, UEFA consults with all its stakeholders,” read a UEFA statement to The Athletic. “Any new competition format proposal would have to be approved by the UEFA Women’s Football Committee before being submitted for approval to the UEFA Executive Committee.”

So should the UCWL change and, if so, how?

How does the current…

Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and CF Pachuca’s Jenni Hermoso are among those nominated for The Best FIFA men’s and women’s awards 2023.

Messi, 36, won the 2022-23 Ligue 1 title with former club Paris Saint-Germain and also became the all-time goalscorer in Europe’s top five leagues. The qualification period for the award, however, does not include the men’s World Cup in 2022.

Hermoso, 33, won the women’s World Cup with Spain in August and was awarded with the World Cup silver ball following her impressive form at the tournament.

Five Manchester City players have been nominated for the men’s award after the English side won an historic treble in 2022-23. Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Rodri and Bernardo Silva are all on the shortlist. Former City captain Ilkay Gundogan, who moved to Barcelona in the summer, was also named.

Four England players occupy the women’s list, including last season’s Women’s Super League top scorer Rachel Daly, Manchester City defender Alex Greenwood, Barcelona midfielder Keira Walsh and Chelsea forward Lauren James. USWNT captain Lindsey Horan and Australia striker Sam Kerr are also among the nominees.

City manager Pep Guardiola and Tottenham Hotspur coach Ange Postecoglou have been nominated for The Best FIFA men’s…