Every Friday, Chubby Alonso likes to sit at his table and lay out a Friday Burrito: a juicy wrap containing five of the most fascinating cuts of news from the past five days, helping him make sense of the week just gone and set the stage for the weekend’s action.

This week’s ingredients include :

1. Steven Gerrard’s parting gift

Just a couple of days after the announcement that Steven Gerrard would leave Liverpool at the season’s end came the odd declaration that the club ‘had their chance and blew it’ with him in summer by not offering him a new contract then. With a bit of professional and respectful spite, he went on to add how the under-fire Brendan Rodgers’ refusal to promise him more playing time made his mind up about everything – a good bit of honesty we like to see from players, but a badge of dishonour that Rodgers could’ve done without right now with his team struggling to find some semblance of form. Put another bullet in that chamber won’t you, Stevie?

2. A Genuine Crisis at Camp Nou

2014 was a big year for Catalonia, with the overwhelming ‘Yes’ vote in the November referendum putting a very real face to secession, but also casting the future of Catalan football in a bit of a limbo. 2015 began and Barcelona still appears hungover: a loss to a David Moyes team, the unceremonious departures of Zubizaretta and Puyol, the sensational Instagram ‘powerplay’ that appears to have divided the Camp Nou into Camp Leo vs Camp Luis, and Josep Bartomeu’s untimely announcement that the Presidential elections would be brought forward to this summer, a year ahead of planned. The transfer embargo imposed on the club suggests that candidates will finally have to campaign based on their plans rather than their purchases, but more importantly it means that the club can no longer rely on a January signing to throw off the caustic stink that surrounds them.

3. The Return of the Kid

While Fernando Torres’ return to the Calderon on Sunday was full of emotion (“one day you will have to explain to me what I’ve done for you to treat me like this.”), his performance in the derby victory was a bit more vanilla, contrary to Simeone’s post-match praise for El Niño. Instead, the real stars of the show were the kids at the back: Lucas Hernandez, 18, and José María Giménez, 19, putting in very assured shifts – the latter scoring the decisive second goal. Real Madrid may be enduring an unhappy start to the new year but this result might spare them the poisoned chalice: the victor over two legs play Barcelona in the Quarter-Finals. For Atletico, this means that by the month’s end they would have battled twice with Real and three more with a wounded Barcelona. Would be a good time for Torres to start repaying his fans.

4. Fancy Feet in Turin

The decline of Italian football over the past decade is such that few would look to Serie A to be entertained. On the odd occasion though, football pulls through to surprise us all with bits of irrepressible flair, reminding us that big fish can still make big splashes even in a shrinking pond. This week’s stunners come from an unlikely source: Juve’s midfield pairing of Vidal and Pogba showed us that there’s more to them than a thunderbastard from distance. On exhibition in the same match was Mauro Icardi, a frustrating young forward with a bottle for the big game: his equaliser was his fifth goal against Juventus in four games. The Italian league may have slowed in attracting the biggest stars, but they appear to have found their place as a comfortable home for troubled talents.

5. Football’s Moral Compass

Campaigners around the world don a yellow ribbon, pledging time and money to help ex-offenders assimilate back in society. Still, the battle rages on in England to keep Ched Evans from doing what he does best. Because footballers are held at a different standard. Because rehabilitation is a principle with limits. Because he has not admitted his guilt – maybe because he may yet be innocent? There is no excuse for abusing one’s celebrity and Ched Evans, with or without a jail sentence, will have learnt that lesson harshly, but talk of victim empowerment has conversely turned both parties into victims of this mania; Oldham Athletic being latest to succumb to the mob rule. This might ruffle some feathers, but I would love to see a club bold enough to let this talented athlete prove that he could still turn out to be the role model everyone had hoped he’d be and give hope to all who have made a wrong turn in life: if a second chance isn’t given, a second chance can’t be taken.

P.S. Marina Hyde has excellently put this case into perspective. Three years in law school has shown how the UK criminal justice system can so clumsy it’s…well, criminal.