Billy Haisley

1 week ago | defector.com | Billy Haisley

Eight minutes into the match, after Eberechi Eze had calmly side-footed the ball over an undefended goal line to give Crystal Palace an early lead, I had for the first time this season the feeling that Manchester City really might not get off the mat. Throughout City's season from hell, it has always felt like the squad was too strong, the manager too great, and the team too experienced to end the year in truly disastrous fashion by finishing outside of the Champions League places.

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Billy Haisley

Brazilian funk, at least out on the radical, thrilling, ear-frying, brain-scrambling fringes, is primarily a producer's genre. It's not that the songs are mostly instrumental. Vocals are a critical part of the sound, the defining examples being the endlessly repeated stabs of short words or phrases—"Vai, vai"; "Toma, toma"; "Fode, fode"; "Pega, pega"; "Vuk vuk" (maybe don't look up what those last few mean in English if you're at work)—that basically are to funk what the hi-hat triplet is to trap.

4 weeks ago | defector.com | Billy Haisley

Soccer in Spain is defined by the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It's what stirs Spanish hearts (one study found that some 57 percent of Spaniards support either Real or Barça), captivates the world's imagination (El Clásico is hands down the biggest rivalry match on the planet), and therefore drives the attention, passion, and economics that are the lifeblood of the sport. What Spanish soccer is, it is in large part directly due to Real and Barça.

1 month ago | defector.com | Billy Haisley

When you win as relentlessly as Real Madrid, you're destined to be perceived as the bad guy. Every club in Europe knows that when they face Madrid in the Champions League, they will confront an opponent endowed with the attributes of a comic-book villain. The Blancos have a vast array of superpowers, which only grow in number and potency in times of crisis.

1 month ago | defector.com | Billy Haisley

Lamine Yamal's first stardust play of the game began with an apology. Carrying the ball up the field 10 minutes into Tuesday's deciding leg of the Barcelona-Benfica Champions League tie, Lamine picked up his head, saw Raphinha opening up his stride, and lifted his hand in contrition.