Does Cristiano Ronaldo suffer from sfairesphobia (the fear of balls or spherical objects)? That would explain why he’s so quick to get the football off his foot and into the back of the net, as well as why he’s the worst defender in a wall since the Trojans.
MANCHESTER, England — The European Super League collapsed on Wednesday as eight of the 12 founding members from England, Italy and Spain abandoned the breakaway project under massive pressure from fans, politicians, soccer officials and even the British royals.
Founder and Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli told Reuters he was reluctantly calling time on the new league after six English clubs withdrew on Tuesday, with Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid following suit and AC Milan indicating they would too.
MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City started the process of withdrawing from the breakaway European Super League on Tuesday less than 72 hours after agreeing to join, with Chelsea also reported to be quitting in a major blow for the proposed new competition.
City confirmed they wanted to pull out while fellow English club Chelsea were reported by local media to be preparing the paperwork to leave a project backed by U.S. investment bank JP Morgan and headed by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Barcelona have leapfrogged Spanish rivals Real Madrid to become the world's most valuable soccer club with a valuation of $4.76 billion, according to a list published by business magazine Forbes on Monday.
Real Madrid, who have topped the list five times in the past, edged Barcelona 2-1 in El Clásico on Saturday but find themselves second best off the pitch with a valuation of $4.75 billion.
ROME - Talking points from the weekend's Serie A matches.
RONALDO RAGES DESPITE JUVE WIN
TURIN, Italy - Juventus eased to a 3-1 victory over Genoa on Sunday to keep alive their faint hopes of making it 10 successive Serie A titles this season.
The champions raced into a comfortable lead inside 22 minutes thanks to goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Álvaro Morata, the Spanish striker converting after Cristiano Ronaldo had hit the post.
Ronaldo with the assist off the post for Morata pic.twitter.com/Fy2YiLvZUT
MILAN - A rare goal from full back Matteo Darmian earned Inter Milan a 1-0 victory over Cagliari on Sunday, as Antonio Conte's side closed on their first Serie A title in 11 years.
Struggling Cagliari were proving to be a tough nut to crack in the San Siro, with debutant goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario making several fine saves to keep the league leaders at bay.
AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimović was sent off for dissent as his side earned a 3-1 win at Parma in Serie A on Saturday.
Milan eased into a comfortable two-goal lead at the break thanks to goals from Ante Rebic in the eighth minute — a strike that was brilliantly set up by Ibrahimović — and a fine Franck Kessie finish on the stroke of halftime.
Milan's task became much more difficult just before the hour mark, however, as out of the blue, Ibrahimović was given a straight red card for something he said to the referee, much to the Swede's bemusement.
Serie A, Italy's top tier professional football league, was founded in 1898, and has been a round-robin tournament since 1929. 20 teams compete to win the Scudetto, and Juventus has dominated the league with 36 titles. The top goalscorer all-time is Silvio Piola with 274 goals, and the current champion is Juventus.