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.
Cristiano Ronaldo was full of flicks and tricks early on in his first visit to Old Trafford since joining Juventus. He made Ashley Young look silly with an early move and even had an admirer invade the pitch to see him (though he was tackled before he reached the former Manchester United winger.
Then Ronaldo made an actual imprint on the game, setting up Juventus’ first goal in the 17th minute.
Rome was witness to a horrifying escalator malfunction ahead of the Champions League match between Roma and CSKA Moscow on Tuesday.
While carrying fans headed to the match, an escalator at a metro station in Rome appears to have collapsed, sending riders careening to the bottom and a high velocity. Reports of serious injuries have already surfaced and the images are both terrifying and gruesome (so be warned).
Here’s video of the escalator malfunction. You can see one escalator working normally while others fly by, creating a massive pile-up at the bottom.
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.”
As reported by The Guardian’s David Conn, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has submitted a proposal for a revamped Club World Cup that would, like the Champions League, feature multiple Premier League and top European sides annually. According to the article, there will be two proposals considered by the FIFA Council during a meeting on Wednesday in Rwanda, and UEFA is none too enthralled by the second one:
On Tuesday, Oct. 23, Cristiano Ronaldo will return to Old Trafford for only the second time since making his 2009 then-world-record-transfer of nearly $110 million to the Santiago Bernabéu.
Ronaldo has played against Manchester United in three competitive matches over the following period — the 2012-13 Champions League Round of 16 and a brief, seven-minute cameo during the 2017 UEFA Super Cup in Macedonia.