Following Bayern Munich's dominating victory over Arsenal, the German club came out flat and ultimately battled to a draw against Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. Vedad Ibisevic opened the scoring for Hertha with a diving header, sneaking it past Manuel Neuer in the 21st minute.
It appeared that the lone goal from Ibisevic would give Hertha three points and their first victory over the Bavarians since 2009.
After putting three past tournament dark horse Napoli on Wednesday, Real Madrid quickly turned around and showed just how frightening a prospect they are this season by defeating Espanyol 2-0.
The gap on Barcelona is four points, and Real maintain a game in hand. Cristiano Ronaldo, having just celebrated his 32nd birthday, remains a wizard on the wing. And they said he couldn't dribble anymore.
This is the last thing Atletico Madrid wanted to see ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League first leg: Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez has hit top form again. With a brace against Augsburg on Friday, Chicharito made it five goals in three matches for Leverkusen.
After going through the longest goal drought of his career, Chicharito has been back with a vengeance throughout January and February. He put Leverkusen up 2-0 in the 40th minute with a left-footed shot.
All eyes were on the Pogba brothers as Florentin’s Saint-Etienne took on Paul’s Manchester United in the Europa League. In the tunnel, they exchanged daps and marveled at the brilliance of each other’s hair.
Apart from eventually winning promotion back to the Premier League, the greatest memory of Newcastle United's 2016-17 season will be selling Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham for £30 million. After acquiring him from Toulouse for next to nothing, Sissoko briefly impressed before playing a massive role in Newcastle’s relegation last season. His lone goal of the campaign didn’t arrive until April, a return of one from 37 matches.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t make the headlines following Real Madrid’s 3-1 victory against Napoli Wednesday, those all belonged to Casemiro after his stunning, vital volley, but it was a vintage performance from Real’s No. 7. Whether cropping up on the left or right side of attack, Ronaldo was a constant threat to Napoli’s fullbacks, and his assist to Toni Kroos for Real’s second was sensational.
Eleven-year-old Samuel suffers from cerebral palsy and cannot walk without assistance, but he doesn’t let his condition stop him from pursuing his dreams. Manchester United inspires the young goalkeeper, but at the end of the day, Samuel is an inspiration to all of us.
Sam revealed, “Having cerebral palsy is very hard, and playing football is a bit difficult but I don’t really take that as a big issue, I just get on with it.”
No matter the field they play on, geniuses are a difficult breed to understand. Each of them has his or her own peculiarities and habits that we will never understand because they see things on a different level. Albert Einstein once picked up a grasshopper from the ground and ate it. He also used to go on bird-watching walks while playing the violin and crying. Nikola Tesla had an aversion to jewelry; Vincent van Gogh severed part of his own ear. The list goes on.
But what does any of this have to do with soccer?
After spending £6.5 million on Belgian Matz Sels in the offseason but watching him commit a series of high-profile errors to start the campaign, Newcastle United turned to 26-year-old goalkeeper Karl Darlow to steady the ship.
Darlow has since been great in net for the league league leaders, but he undoubtedly suffered the worst moment of his career in Newcastle’s 2-2 draw with Norwich City on Tuesday.
A match between Serie A’s leading scorers, Napoli, and the side with the second-highest total in La Liga, Real Madrid, was always likely to contain fireworks. Wednesday’s first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu didn’t disappoint.
Napoli tried to play their attacking game against the Champions League holders, but Real Madrid were simply a class above Napoli with Diego Maradona watching on.