Europe

It’s been an excellent 24 hours for Tottenham’s Champions League aspirations.

Liverpool marched on to yet another win, scoring late and great to eventually see off last-place Norwich City 1-0 in a match that was much harder than the Reds might have expected on Saturday at Carrow Road.

Liverpool has now taken 76 points from a possible 78, which is just stupid if you think about it. If this happened in any other league in Europe (or the world), detractors would use it as proof to say the rest of the league is no good. But in England, Liverpool is hailed as one of the greatest teams of all time, and it’s hard to argue against that. 

Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel thought he could rest his stars against the 19th-place team in Ligue 1 ahead of the start of the Champions League knockout rounds on Tuesday. He was wrong.

SC Amiens scored the game’s first three goals only to see PSG come back to take the lead before a late equalizer gave the home side an unlikely 4-4 draw Saturday at Stade de la Licorne.

With Barcelona reeling at the Camp Nou, the visitors having pulled within a goal, Marc André ter Stegen once again stepped up to save the day. The German goalkeeper made a dizzying save in the 72nd minute to help second-place Barça hold off third-place Getafe for a 2-1 win on Saturday. The Blaugrana pulled back even on points with Real Madrid, at least until Los Blancos play Sunday.

For once, UEFA has shown it’s got a bit of a spine. After years of failing to truly punish violators of Financial Fair Play, UEFA handed down its biggest penalty yet, banning Manchester City from the Champions League for two seasons on Friday. The English club was also fined $32.5 million. The Man City UCL ban is subject to appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

BREAKING: Manchester City banned from Champions League for two seasons by UEFA and fined 30 million euros

Alexander Sørloth looked a man bereft of confidence. Just 12 months after arriving in South London in a $11.75 million deal from Denmark's FC Midtjylland, the Norwegian striker was yet to score a Premier League goal for Crystal Palace in 16 appearances. In all but four of those outings, he had come off the bench. 

It’s a confirmation of what everyone has come to understand over the past decade, but Miguel Delaney’s article in The Independent on Wednesday — entitled “How football became broken beyond repair” — is a sobering bit of realism that effectively illustrates how stale, predictable, undemocratic and hyper-capitalist the modern game has become.

Just 76 days after it began, Jurgen Klinsmann's return to club management is over.

The former USMNT boss, appointed manager of Hertha BSC on Nov. 27, shocked the club by announcing his decision to step down as Head Coach immediately, but he will maintain his post as a member of the club's supervisory board.

The latest ad campaign from adidas comes close to greatness. It’s all centered around the release of the Predator 20 Mutator boots, which feature the striking implementation of DEMONSKIN technology. The breakthrough tech is immediately noticeable in the form of 406 spikes on the upper which work together as a textured layer to enhance grip on the ball and maximize control.