Liverpool and RB Salzburg played a frenzied game of Champions League football on Wednesday. It was the sort of match that makes you question everything — from Virgil van Dijk’s shaky status as godhead to Erling Braut Håland’s growing status as Pelé.
Lionel Messi has had his struggles this season, having picked up an injury before the campaign and another after it had started in September.
Consider Messi back in full form now after a magical run to set up Barcelona’s winner in a 2-1 comeback over Inter Milan in Champions League Group F on Wednesday at the Camp Nou.
Things are heating up in the Champions League (read: Real Madrid bottom of Group A) and there’s no surer sign of the increase in dramatics than managers getting booked. In a first for the Champions League, coaches can now be on the receiving end of both yellow and red cards from the match official, and although Match Day 1 of the competition came and went without history being made, Match Day 2 brought the moment we’d all been waiting for.
We’ve all been there at one point or another.
You get all excited about a big game, join a bunch of like-minded fans and get ready for what you hope is an event to remember.
Then your team gets absolutely hammered and you respond by getting absolutely hammered.
Except, only Steve Nash has to go on TV afterward.
There’s a lot to like about this Galatasaray club. First off, in a match against the global superpower that is Paris Saint-Germain, Fatih Terim’s side featured a quintet of guys fast approaching their mid-30s, including Radamel Falcao, Yuto Nagatomo, Mariano, Fernando Muslera and Ryan Babel.
It’s no wonder that Terim was profusely sweating his way through proceedings on the touchline.
This man is simply unstoppable right now. Bayern Munich earned a 7-2 win thanks to a stunning Robert Lewandowski goal vs Spurs on Tuesday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Son Hueng-min and Joshua Kimmich traded early goals in the massive Group B clash, but it was the Polish striker who provided the difference maker just before halftime.
Lewandowski started and finished a wild play in the 45th minute, eventually punishing Tottenham for failing to clear the ball with a smashing effort from the edge of the 18.
Club Brugge came within five minutes of recording a historic upset of 13-time European champion Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday, but the Belgian side ultimately had to settle for a 2-2 draw after a late equalizer from Casemiro.
Regardless, the story of the game will be the first-half brace scored by Club Brugge’s Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis.
Although she finished eighth in The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2019 voting, Lyon attacker Ada Hegerberg was omitted from the first-ever FIFPro Women’s World11 due to the inclusion of Marta in attack. With all due respect to Marta’s legacy, the 33-year-old playmaker didn’t warrant her place after scoring five goals and providing zero assists in 12 appearances for the NWSL’s worst team before a disappointing World Cup that included zero goals from open play and zero assists in three games.
Tuttosport officially narrowed its Golden Boy (best young player under 21) shortlist to 40 candidates, and before the list gets any smaller I thought it’d be fun to rank the candidates who I believe will end up in the top 10.
UEFA made some far-reaching decisions during a meeting of its executive committee on Tuesday in Slovenia. In addition to determining the future Champions League final locations, European soccer’s governing body made changes to the UEFA Nations League, decided to finally introduce VAR in competitions other than the biggest men’s tournaments and promoted women’s rights.