Hirving Lozano earned a lot of praise for his defensive efforts during the World Cup with Mexico. Much of it was deserved as his tracking back was nearly as important as his goal against Germany. But on this Ousmane Dembele goal vs PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday, Lozano was left grasping at air.
You could sense it was coming.
PSV Eindhoven had threatened Barcelona on the other end a couple times in the opening 30 minutes of the first Champions League match of the group stage, but when Lionel Messi lined up behind the ball after a hard foul on Ousmane Dembélé just outside the box, there was only ever going to be one outcome.
Lionel Messi scored the first goal of the Champions League group stage with a stunningly perfect free kick, curled into the top-right corner of the net to give Barça a lead in the 31st minute on Tuesday in Barcelona.
It’s September 18th and every lover of the game can consider Tuesday a great one because it is the day the UEFA Champions League returns. However, this Tuesday is also special because it marks the day of birth of the man who is quickly staking his claim as one of the best to play for the United States men’s national team.
Christian Pulisic, the oft-labeled “future” of the U.S. soccer, leaps into his second decade of living and thus, can no longer be called “one of the best teenagers in the world,” the “teenage talisman” or the “teenage sensation.”
The Champions League returns tomorrow as the group stage kicks off with two marquee games that’ll garner attention across the globe: at 12:55 p.m. ET, Inter Milan and Tottenham do battle at the San Siro, and that’s followed by a 3:00 p.m. ET classic between Liverpool and PSG at Anfield. That’s one helluva first day.
The collaboration between Paris Saint-Germain and the Jordan Brand drops tomorrow (Sept. 14), and we now have our first official glimpse at the entire collection. The offerings include two special edition kits that will be worn by PSG exclusively in the Champions League, a couple Air Jordan sneakers, Phantom and Mercurial boots with Jumpman and Swoosh branding and the entire gambit of lifestyle clothing (jackets, shorts, tees, parkas, pants, etc.).
The 2018-19 UEFA Women’s Champions League Round of 32 kicked off Wednesday with the likes of Lyon (the three-time defending champion), Chelsea, Wolfsburg, PSG and Linkoping all recording first leg victories.
The most resounding scoreline was Bayern Munich traveling to Serbia to take on Spartak Subotica and winning 7-0. The opening goal of the match was scored by 33-year-old American Gina Lewandowski (no relation to Robert). She previously won this competition with Frankfurt back in 2008, but she has only one USWNT cap to her name.
It really shouldn’t come as a surprise given the outcome of the 2017-18 UEFA Men’s Player of the Year Award voting (finishing order: Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah), but the three finalists for The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018 are Modric, Ronaldo and Salah, leaving the likes of Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Kevin De Bruyne on the outside looking in.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s life is harder than you may think. There are days his six pack abs do not show off very well or a fan takes a bad selfie of him. Sometimes he does not even score for two or three games.
But this? Not winning what would have been a 98th trophy? Not having to clear space in your cabinet for another award. Now that, that, is really tough.
The Champions League group stage draw on Thursday was excruciatingly boring. The matches it presented to us won’t be — at least not in Group C.
The 2018-19 Champions League group stages feature some tasty matchups with a couple of thrilling groups and one shockingly easy group.
Here are the groups:
The Champions League group stage is now set, all 32 teams having clinched their spot in the meat of Europe’s biggest club competition. Red Star Belgrade was the last team in, booking its spot in the Champions League group stage for the first time ever with a dramatic 2-2 draw with FC Salzburg, advancing on away goals.