Porto climbed to the top of UEFA Champions League Group D with an impressive 3-1 win in Moscow against Lokomotiv on Wednesday, and the Mexican duo of Handsome Hector Herrera and Jesús “Tecatito” Corona played a large part in the win.
The Handsome One scored Porto’s second with Tecatito supplying the assist in the 35th minute.
Hector Herrera doubles Porto's lead
A fascinating tactical battle between Lucien Favre’s Bundesliga-leading Dortmund and Diego Simeone’s Atletico (currently averaging 0.55 goals conceded per game in LaLiga) was bossed by the home side at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday, BVB putting four past Europe’s misers while limiting the visitors to only two shots on frame.
Achraf Hakimi registered a hat-trick of assists while the moves were finished by Axel Witsel, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Guerreiro (x2). Marco Reus wasn’t on the scoresheet, but his deployment in the false nine role murdered Atletico’s shape.
With El Clásico looming on Sunday, the only good news for Real Madrid at the present is the absence of Lionel Messi. Yes, Real climbed to the top of Champions League Group G on Tuesday after narrowly defeating Czech First League side Plzeň 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, but you could easily argue that Los Blancos looked better during last weekend’s shock 2-1 defeat to Levante.
A meeting between Inter Milan and Barcelona at the Camp Nou will always conjure images of Jose Mourinho celebrating his tactical masterclass by storming the pitch at the final whistle, but for one Inter player, Wednesday’s tilt will serve as an unlikely reminder of things past — it's Mauro Icardi’s “homecoming.”
It’s only taken him 38 Eredivisie appearances, but after scoring against FC Emmen on Saturday, Hirving “Chucky” Lozano reached the landmark of 25 league goals for PSV Eindhoven.
A return of 17 goals and eight assists in his first season in Europe certainly captured attention, but the Mexico international has already bagged eight while adding three assists in only nine matches this term.
Did you watch the goal above? He does that more often than most, doesn’t he? With his languid, cerebral, hyper technical, pass-first-shoot-later style, Mesut Ozil scores sublime goals that ooze sensibility and ease but register a 10/10 on the difficulty scale.
As a Newcastle fan, I can instantly remember the times he’s done as much to the Premier League’s current cellar dwellers. Last December, he looped an audacious effort into the roof of the net when the danger seemed to be cleared.