FC Barcelona players arrived at the club’s Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training center this morning only to find the doors locked and a piece of paper taped to the entrance reading: “El fin.”
Uli Hoeneß is acting like a child, threatening to take his toys and go home if he doesn’t get his way: The Bayern Munich president is suggesting a Germany boycott if his players don’t receive preferential treatment.
The German national team has been embroiled in a goalkeeper debate of late. While Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer is the long-term No. 1 keeper, many believe Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen deserves more opportunities.
Lionel Messi made his first start of the season against Villarreal on Tuesday and normalcy was restored to Barcelona for 15 minutes. Barça raced to a 2-0 lead over that period, but then Messi went down and the Camp Nou went quiet.
It certainly didn’t appear to be a recurrence of the calf injury that’s plagued him so far, and he carried on through the remainder of the first half — just long enough to see Villarreal pull one back through Santi Cazorla.
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 went down in Milan today, and you can rest assured that The18 tried its best to watch on YouTube, but good lord, this stuff is mostly unwatchable. It's remarkably drawn out, full of self-aggrandizing nonsense from FIFA and the forced banter between hosts Ilaria D'Amico, Ruud Gullit and the guests makes you search for the mute button while your skin crawls.
But other than that it's pretty good!
Let’s go to the green carpet for some select photos before the ceremony. Here’s Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe looking fly.
After sitting on the bench in Euro qualifying for Germany over the recent international break, Marc-André ter Stegen expressed frustration in being stuck behind Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer in the pecking order to be Germany’s No. 1. After watching Ter Stegen vs Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday, it’s hard to argue he shouldn’t usurp Neuer.
Ter Stegen made four saves, including one on a penalty kick and a massive double save to help Barcelona draw Borussia Dortmund 0-0 in the Champions League group-stage opener for both clubs on Tuesday in Dortmund.
108 days after Liverpool lifted the Champions League trophy in Madrid, we’re set to do it all over again with a competition that’ll reach its conclusion on May 30 in Istanbul. Matchday one begins tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept. 17) with a couple massive group stage encounters before carrying through to Wednesday with a couple more.
Below, we’ll highlight those four games while also breaking down the Champions League TV schedule on TNT.
Tuesday, September 17
Jimmy Butler was never really in contention for the United States squad at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He played his part in helping Team USA to gold at the 2016 Olympics, and the 30-year-old must now adjust to life in Miami after being traded by Philadelphia. So you can’t really blame him for missing out on America’s shambolic seventh-place showing and going to Barcelona instead.
Despite his age, Ansu Fati doesn’t need any time to adjust to the highest level.
A 16-year-old forward, Fati became Barcelona’s youngest-ever goal scorer a couple weeks ago. He received his first start at home against Valencia on Saturday and took no time proving he belongs on one of the best teams in the world.
Fati scored in the second minute and added an assist five minutes later in a mindboggling opening to his first career start.
In time, the coaching tree that expands out from Pep Guardiola is going to be massive. Some will fail (like if Mikel Arteta had taken the job at Newcastle), but the Spanish tactician’s otherworldly training methods will almost certainly be absorbed and even expanded upon by some future coaching Übermensch that worked under Guardiola for a long period.
It’s been a while since Lionel Messi’s last in-depth interview with a major news outlet, but one has just landed today from Barcelona-based daily SPORT.