With Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw playing the roles of marauding fullbacks, Axel Tuanzebe the false center back, Bruno Fernandes the floating No. 10, Donny van de Beek the floating No. 8 and Juan Mata and Nemanja Matić the taxidermied zebras, Manchester United produced the sort of display that makes you wonder why Mauricio Pochettino is still out of a job on Wednesday.
I would be willing to bet my life’s savings that Red Bull Salzburg won’t win this season’s Champions League. I’d go as far as to wager a dollar to every person that reads this that Jesse Marsch’s side won’t advance to the Round of 16. Please contact me with your Venmo information if Salzburg surprises me.
The frank reality is that Atlético Madrid and Bayern Munich possess far superior weaponry in every position. The most commonly seen strategy to try to beat Europe’s goliaths for the Davids of the continent is to park the bus and pray for a counterattack.
We’ve got a new leader in rowdy UEFA Champions League Group B, and Real Madrid and Inter Milan should really just be thankful that Borussia Mönchengladbach isn’t dashing off into the sunset at this point.
After drawing 2-2 with both Real and Inter by way of conceding 90th-minute equalizers, Gladbach travelled to Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday in a violent mood inspired by French forward Alassane Pléa.
Fulham chalked up their first Premier League win of the season and climbed out of the relegation zone after first half goals from Bobby Decordova-Reid and Ola Aina helped them to a 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Sizzling Real Sociedad thrashed Celta Vigo 4-1 away from home on Sunday for a fourth consecutive LaLiga victory, which returned them to the top of the standings.
David Silva scored his first goal for Sociedad by heading home midway through the first half, while Spain forward Mikel Oyarzabal added the second soon after, following up his own shot which had come off the post. Willian Jose further stretched the visitors' lead early in the second half, tapping in a cross from Cristian Portu, who had chased down Celta defender Jeison Murillo to win the ball back by the penalty area.
After a long spell in the purgatory that is the Spanish third division, Cadiz CF is flourishing in LaLiga.
The Yellow Submarine is hoping to avoid a repeat of its last spell in the top division, which ended in immediate relegation. Eight games into the 2020-21 campaign, the club has laid itself a solid foundation to prolong its stay this time around. As the Friday games of round eight come to a close, Cadiz sits in second place on 14 points, which would have surprised even the most optimistic of supporters heading into the season.
Champions League Group B was an easy one to predict with LaLiga champion Real Madrid and Serie A runner-up Inter Milan joined by the difficult-to-spell sides of Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Mönchengladbach, but we’re two match days in and both Real and Inter have yet to win.
It’s not getting any better than this for 19-year-old goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin and Shakhtar Donetsk — or is it?
Last Wednesday, Shakhtar travelled to the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano and pulled off an incredible 3-2 upset of 13-time European champion Real Madrid despite missing 10 players through a combination of injury and pandemic. That match marked a Champions League debut for Trubin, who recorded three saves.
The FA Cup just finished the final round of qualifying over the weekend, and we now know which 32 non-league sides will be joining the 92 Football League clubs to compete in the 140th iteration of football's most storied competition.
The cup was first contested in 1871-72 with Wanderers defeating Royal Engineers in the final. The competition now encompasses the top 10 divisions of English football with the final played in the 90,000-seat Wembley Stadium in London.