If he continues like this, Martin Ødegaard will be playing for Real Madrid next season. It’s been nearly five years since he made his first and only LaLiga appearance for Los Blancos at the age of 16 years and 157 days, but now aged 21, Ødegaard is finally shining in Spain’s top division while on loan at high-flying Real Sociedad.
“When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the master,” is what Frank Lampard presumably said to José Mourinho following Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday. After suffering four defeats in their last five Premier League games, Lampard elected to switch to a back three and relied on excellent performances from Willian, Mason Mount and Marcos Alonso to drive Mourinho’s side inside its shell at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It's been nearly a year since Miguel Almirón made his big-money move to Newcastle United from Major League Soccer's Atlanta United.
In Atlanta, the Paraguayan scored 22 goals in 68 appearances over the course of two seasons. He was one of the attacking powerhouses of the league and one of the main reasons Atlanta's expansion season in 2017 and title-winning 2018 campaign were both large successes.
It’s about time for the second half of the European club season, and you know what that means — it’s time to burn all the “Cristiano Ronaldo Is Finished” takes from September/October for the fourth straight year.
Recently named the USMNT Young Male Player of the Year, Sergiño Dest has had quite an impressive 2019-20 season already. He's logged major minutes for Ajax in the Eredivisie and chose to represent the USMNT over the Netherlands (still trying to figure out why, to be honest).
Barcelona and Real Madrid played to a scoreless El Clásico draw for the first time in 30 years with the match largely failing to live up to the extreme prematch hype.
Monterrey gave Liverpool all it could handle in today’s FIFA Club World Cup semifinal in Qatar. The two sides exchanged early goals through Naby Keïta and Rogelio Funes Mori, but it was the substitute Roberto Firmino who scored the dramatic winner in second half stoppage time to book Liverpool’s place in the final, where they’ll meet Copa Libertadores champion Flamengo.
During Bayern Munich’s 3-1 victory over Tottenham on Wednesday, Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer recorded 66 touches, which was more than any Spurs player on the day (Kyle Walker-Peters was tops with 59). With 48 accurate passes, he also outperformed all Tottenham players in that category. Oh, and his pass success rate of 89 percent (48 of 54) was also better than Spurs' best (Moussa Sissoko hit on 85 percent).
Ajax, semifinalist last time around, has been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League at the group stage following a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Valencia in Amsterdam.
Heading into the day as Group H leaders, Johan Cruijff ArenA fully expected a celebratory affair given the fact that Ajax had previously crushed Valencia 3-0 at the Mestalla back on Oct. 2, but Rodrigo’s goal in the 24th minute — coupled with Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Lille — sent Ajax crashing down to third and into the Europa League.
The fifth goal of Son Heung-min’s 2019-20 Premier League season was perhaps the finest he’s ever scored for Tottenham. Beginning at the edge of his own area, the 27-year-old attacker took off at a brisk pace before roaring through the gears and leaving eight Burnley defenders in his torrential wake.