Last night in Rome, Napoli captured the Coppa Italia by defeating Juventus on penalties to send Naples into raptures. There are few cities on the planet that are so culturally and socially intertwined with their football club, and a first major honor since 2014 — coupled with the fact that it was achieved against Cristiano Ronaldo and 94-year rival Juve — drew fans out onto the streets to celebrate into the early hours.
Football supporters groups from around Europe have criticized attempts to liven up matches in empty stadiums by using artificial crowd noise, describing it as a rebuke to match-going fans.
The fans said that the recent return of football following the coronavirus stoppage, with matches behind closed doors, had shown that supporters were "the lifeblood of the game" and their contribution should be recognized by leagues and clubs.
With fans barred from entering stadiums due to the impact of coronavirus, Danish league leaders FC Midtjylland took an imaginative approach to their return to action with a 'drive-in' broadcast for supporters.
The club installed giant screens in the parking lot of their MCH Arena to allow fans to watch matches from the their cars from the more than 2,000 available spaces.
FC Seoul’s 1-0 victory over Gwangju was a steamy and sultry affair at Sangam Stadium on Sunday. With K League matches being played behind closed doors, the 66,000-seat facility was left empty — except for the handful of sex dolls that greeted Han Chan-hee’s winner with expressions of titillated euphoria.
After months without it, it’s only natural to look at this weekend’s upcoming Bundesliga fixture list and lose your shit. The Revierderby between Schalke and Borussia Dortmund?! Cinderella side Union Berlin hosting mighty Bayern Munich?! It doesn’t get any better than this . . . until you remember it kind of does.
Young Leeds United fan Daniel Huton was not completely disappointed after sending a letter to Brighton asking to keep his new favorite player. Five-year-old Huton’s favorite is Benjamin White, who's currently on loan at Leeds and will go back to Brighton at the end of the season.
Huton raided his piggy bank, pulled out pen and paper and made his offer for the defender.
A good commentator can be the difference maker when watching a big game. A person that conveys the excitement and importance of game-changing moments is vital for viewing pleasure. On April 16, 2014, Gareth Bale scored one of the greatest Copa del Rey goals ever with his blistering speed.
Give a listen to different commentators’ reactions to Bale’s goal.
Anfield erupted as Ilkay Gündoğan's free kick flew wide and the final whistle blew. The Liverpool faithful had witnessed some remarkable European nights at their home ground, but perhaps none as exhilarating as this one.
The Reds had just completed a miraculous turnaround to claim a 4-3 victory over Jürgen Klopp's former team Borussia Dortmund to advance to the Europa League semifinals, 5-4 on aggregate. Before last year's famous Champions League victory over Barcelona, this game had a strong claim as Anfield's greatest European comeback.
When North American sports leagues return to action after the coronavirus crisis, questions are sure to linger over whether the fans will be willing, or have the resources, to pack stadiums as they once did, sports analysts have said.
It was a weekend the Bundesliga would like to forget. Multiple banners from supporters caused games to stop, and now a group of Japanese fans is being issued an apology after security removed them from RB Leipzig's stadium over fears of coronavirus.
One of the Japanese fans who was removed tweeted about the events that took place. The tweet has since been deleted but read: