Atletico Madrid visited Athletic Bilbao for a Copa de la Reina quarterfinal match on Wednesday, pulling out a 2-0 victory despite going down to 10 women early in the second half. But the story of the day wasn’t the Madrid side’s resolve but the Bilbao fans in the stands. A record 48,121 fans turned out for the match at the San Mamés, a the highest attendance in women's soccer in Spain.
HISTORY.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sky Sports, Taylor Twellman and The Telegraph (so if Mike Ashley gets blackout drunk and firebombs the deal, don't blame me), Newcastle United and Atlanta United have finally agreed to terms on the transfer of Miguel Almiron to the Premier League.
Barcelona maintained its five-point lead at the top of LaLiga with a comfortable 3-0 win over Eibar at the Camp Nou on Sunday. Luis Suarez opened the scoring for the hosts after a wonderful interchange with Philippe Coutinho, and then Suarez turned provider for Barca’s second, finished by Lionel Messi — his 400th league goal for the club.
Barca’s third was Suarez’s second of the game after a quick Sergi Roberto throw-in found Eibar’s defense asleep.
How many goals has Messi scored? It’s hard to answer, because right this very instant, he dropped Jérôme Boateng and chipped Manuel Neuer. In the time it took you to read that sentence, he just scored a hat-trick against Levante. Lionel Messi has scored 664 goals in his career for club and country, so yes, I’m slightly exaggerating, but only slightly.
According to Showbuzz Daily, the 2018 MLS Cup Final averaged 1.5 million viewers on FOX, making it the second-most-watched final in league history behind MLS Cup ’97 (which garnered an audience of 2.2 million people thirsting for Marcelo Balboa). Atlanta United beat Portland 2-0 in front of a record crowd for an MLS match on Saturday.
Yesterday, 19-year-old AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made his 100th consecutive Serie A appearance for the club, a streak which began during the 2015-16 season. It’s a feat that doesn’t make much sense for a teenager plying his trade at the seven-time European champions. It's mind-boggling.
After 10 years of nothing but Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Croatia and Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric has become the first player since Kaká back in 2007 to wrest football’s biggest individual accolade from the two behemoths of the modern game: The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner is Luka.