It's Shakhtar Donetsk vs Sevilla in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday, and it is a matchup that Shakhtar don't have fond memories of. Nine years ago, the two teams faced each other in a UEFA Cup round of 16 clash that was one for the history books.
Corinthians won the 2015 Campeonato Brasileiro with a 12-point lead over their nearest rival, Atletico Mineiro. They lost only five games all season while compiling a goal difference of +40, earning direct qualification to the second stage of the 2016 Copa Libertadores. They simply dominated all challengers while scoring a league best 71 goals.
Brazil manager Dunga has cast further doubts on Marcelo ever returning to the Brazilian setup while he remains in charge by questioning the Real Madrid defender's commitment and attitude with the national team.
Marcelo was omitted from Brazil’s World Cup qualifiers against Paraguay and Uruguay in March following a series of injuries to the left-back prior to the qualifiers. Dunga pointed to Marcelo’s perceived fitness concerns as the reason behind his omission.
The FA Cup may have lost its shine in recent years, but it is still capable of throwing up some interesting plotlines, and this year is no exception. With a victory against West Ham at Upton Park, Manchester United are now set to take on Everton at Wembley on April 23rd. Both Roberto Martinez and Louis Van Gaal are walking on thin ice in their respective positions, and the FA Cup could be their only chance at success this season.
Gonzalo Higuain has been banned for four matches following his complete mental breakdown against Udinese. After seeing a second yellow, Higuain completely broke rank and pushed the referee before taking his frustrations out on teammates, opponents, coaches and basically anyone and everyone that tried to intervene. It was a moment of madness that has now stripped Napoli of any chance to win the Scudetto.
Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James may play different sports, but they have a lot in common. They are two of the biggest superstars in the entire world, and two of the most polarizing. They have it all: money, fame, awards, and championships, but that's not going to stop me from saying they are two of the most underappreciated athletes in the world.
Underappreciated? How can you say they are underappreciated? Well, now that I have your attention, I will explain it.
There are a lot of great tournaments in sports; there is The Masters, the UEFA Champions League, the NFL playoffs, the US Open, Wimbledon. the list goes on and on. But if you ask me there are two that are better than all the rest, and they are The World Cup and March Madness. These are the two greatest tournaments in the world.
Undoubtedly Soccer is experiencing an uptick in terms of growth in the USA.
The numbers from the last three years are enough make any sports fans become very optimistic about soccer's future.
People have tried to popularize soccer in the USA before, most notably with the North American Soccer League in the 1970s, but soccer is more popular in the U.S. right now than it has ever been.
Manchester United legend-turned-pundit Rio Ferdinand has said that the Premier League doesn't have any of the best players in the world anymore and English teams in the Champions League suffer because of it. Ferdinand appeared in three Champions League finals, winning it once in 2008 and the veteran defender thinks that the league had more stars back when he won the trophy.
Regardless of what happens during these last eight matches in the English Premier League, the rise of Leicester City is a story that will stay as one of the greatest surprises in league history.
Since the Premier League started being called the Premier League, the only title run that rivals this Leicester stunner was Blackburn’s 1994-95 title. Even so, Blackburn's title race wasn’t as long of a shot as what we have seen this year from Leicester, because the Rovers were the runners-up in 1993-94.