Opinion

The 2016-17 Champions League Group Stage has finished with all the usual contenders set to battle it out in the round of 16. Monday’s draw has handed us the following match ups:

A torn ankle ligament, adductor problems, a toe injury, hamstring injuries, osteitis pubis and muscular problems: all have conspired to give us less Marco Reus in our lives than we should ever be happy with. The 27-year-old doesn’t even have 30 caps for Germany yet, which is an offense to the footballing gods.

The rejuvenated heroics of Mario Balotelli saw the Italian striker score six goals in his first six Ligue 1 matches for Nice, propelling the club to the top of the table over the likes of Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain. 

You’ve likely heard that Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United are, after 13 Premier League matches, further down the EPL table than they were during the dog days of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. You’ve also probably been told that Mourinho has won as many games (six) in his last 20 EPL fixtures as Sean Dyche, Sam Allardyce and, yes, David Moyes. And all this after spunking a bajillion of the late Malcolm Glazer’s hard earned dollars all over the summer transfer market.

Following every weekend, when discussing Serie A, there's a temptation to focus on Juventus. As the long-time reigning champions, it's clear why the Turin side garners a huge amount of attention. But the best stories are not always found at the top of the table.

Celtic may have had a roller-coaster week, what with their being eliminated from European competition with a loss to Barcelona mid-week before coming back to defeat Aberdeen 3-0 in the League Cup final on Sunday.

The Olympics and the World Cup are arguably the two greatest sporting occasions on the planet. What makes them so special is that they only come 'round once every four years, but there are a great deal of differences among these two giant competitions.

In the grand scheme of things, the simple fact is this: the Olympic Games mean way more to athletes than the World Cup does to footballers. Now, that wasn't always the case, but over time it has certainly developed into being that way, and it isn't really a surprise.

Serie A had an exciting time this past weekend. Fiorentina managed to flip from atrocious attrition into smooth ruthlessness. Teacher’s pets Sassuolo dirtied their report card yet again by letting another two goal lead slip. Joe Hart’s Torino™ (and Andrea Belotti in particular) continue to raise expectations purely so they can shoot them down a week later.

Juventus managed to extend their lead to seven points. but lost another striker in the process, Gonzalo Higuain now out and set to miss important games. But, truth be told, everyone’s attention was always in Milan.