It wasn't that Arsenal lost to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. That was to be expected. It was how they lost. At least, that's what the folks who get paid lots of money to unleash Hot Soccer Takes are saying. No word on what their Hot Soccer Takes would be if Arsenal had gamely hung in there and lost a close one.
Last week in the Champions League, Messi scored against Chelsea. During the weekend in La Liga, he scored twice against Girona. Both clubs until then had held the distinction of not having been scored against by Messi. The list of clubs Messi has played against but not scored against is down to 10 teams.
Here’s a five-day period so Luis Suarez that even Luis Suarez would call it cliché. Last Tuesday, the Uruguayan striker was booked in the 76th minute of Barcelona’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea. Suarez was given the yellow directly after Lionel Messi’s equalizer for berating the linesman.
In the 77th minute of PSG’s routine 3-0 victory over Marseille Sunday night, a seemingly innocuous moment led to Neymar remaining on the ground while play continued around him. 10 seconds later, with Neymar still writhing in agony and in clear discomfort, PSG played the ball out so their Brazilian star could receive treatment.
Neymar was then stretchered off the field while crying inconsolably. For many, the world’s most expensive player had clearly just suffered a serious injury (perhaps a broken ankle), calling into question his participation at the World Cup.
Lionel Messi is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi has scored 98 Champions League goals in his career so far, and we were wondering which countries he has done the most damage against. So, we went through all of Messi's goals and figured out the countries that house the clubs Messi has scored the most goals against.
Romelu Lukaku has been criticized this year for not scoring against the top clubs. He went a long way toward diminishing that reputation by supplying a goal and an assist for Manchester United vs Chelsea in a 2-1 victory for the Red Devils on Sunday at Old Trafford.
Like a good band, Barcelona played all the hits in their 6-1 demolition of Girona on Saturday, surely a treat for anyone seeing them live for the first time (I hate you Bryce I hate you so much).
They opened with Lionel Messi assisting Luis Suarez:
Endorsing products is a great way for footballers to earn money in addition to their salaries. Most players take advantage of this in some way, some more than others. Some players, though, are not taking as full advantage of the product-endorsing racket as they could be, The18 has decided. Specifically, these 15 (or so) players need to endorse these 15 products/brands RIGHT NOW.
Alex Morgan-Disney World
Last week, there was a horrific moment in the Champions League when Real Madrid left back Marcelo shattered his arm while unleashing a blood-curdling scream that was captured by live television cameras. Millions of viewers at home thought they were going to be sick.