There was a practice in Ancient Rome whereby a victorious general would be welcomed back into the city by throngs of celebrating citizens. As the triumph marched through the streets, with compliments and adoration showered upon the commander by the men and women of Rome, there was always a slave stationed beside his ear.
Celtic knew going into their Champions League encounter with Barcelona that getting a result against a side reinforced by the return of Brazilian great Neymar would be an extremely difficult task.
They couldn’t have imagined just how well the MSN reunion would go for the Blaugrana.
The attacking trio were nothing short of sensational at the Camp Nou, playing a part in all seven Barca goals.
Neymar started things off by setting up Messi’s first, the Argentine finishing with a powerful left-footed shot.
Ross Barkley did not have a good game against Sunderland.
Barkley spent most of his time posting up defenders like a basketball player from the 90s, but that strategy doesn't work very well if you're 40 yards from the goal. Ronald Koeman noticed this and yanked Barkley for Spaniard Gerard Deulofeu, who is wispy and aggressive and prefers to glide at/around defenders instead of trying to smash them into grit.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City Champions League group stage debut will have to wait until the weather cooperates. Man City are scheduled to play Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League group stage, but the match has been postponed because the field looks like this:
Currently at the Etihad pic.twitter.com/AqvFKUN7ah
— Ian Cheeseman (@IanCheeseman) September 13, 2016
Barcelona are at home against a team that recently lost to a team from Gibraltar. You can guess how it's going.
Messi Neymar Messi Neymar Messi = It's that easy. #UCL @HeinekenSoccer #UCLonFOX https://t.co/Mm2g5qriQU
It isn't surprising that Neymar took this free kick because it's about the same angle that he scored from in the Olympic gold medal match against Germany.
He's also one of the best players in the world. It is surprising that Neymar took this free kick because Lionel Messi was standing over it as well, and he's the best player in the world and was also on a hat trick.
Neymar recreated his Olympic goal against Celtic, and, for the record, Messi did eventually get his hat trick.
Atletico Madrid beat PSV 1-0 in their Champions League group stage opener, but PSV had a chance to draw level in stoppage time of the first half when Luciano Narsingh drew a penalty. Andres Guardado stepped up to take it for PSV.
And he had it saved.
Andre's Guardado usually scores his penalties. Not today
Having warded off interest from Barcelona and Sevilla to sign a rejuvenated Hatem Ben Arfa, Paris Saint-Germain appeared to be the perfect destination for the mercurial 29-year-old playmaker. Ben Arfa signed for PSG as a free agent after experiencing a renaissance last year with Nice, tallying 17 goals and six assists in Ligue 1.
This all, of course, followed a tumultuous four years in England where he was part footballing genius, part disinterested delinquent.
Having a bad day at school or the office? Looking forward to making your way home, only to realize that it’s Tuesday and your agenda reads the laundry, a frozen dinner and an existential crises? Well, save those things for tomorrow, because it’s FIFA 17 demo day!
That’s right, at some point today, hopefully before 5:00 PM, the FIFA 17 demo will be released through the various console markets. It’ll cost you nothing and grant you the ability to see what FIFA 17 has in store for us.
In the first half against Sunderland, Everton looked listless, stuck even. They kept posting up Ross Barkley like 40 yards away from the goal, and it was not working. Romelu Lukaku only touched the ball 10 times and still probably should have had two goals.
In the second half against Sunderland, Gerard Deulofeu came on for Barkley and Lukaku ended his 11-match scoring drought then added two more for good measure.