Europe

10 Truly Bizarre Stadium Features That You’ll Need To Sample

Ah, the modern stadium. As the governor of St. Louis so eloquently put it, “welfare for millionaires.” In place of standing-room only paddocks exposed to inclement weather, we now have free universal wi-fi, luxury suites that place you next to the players and concession prices that’ll cause your rent check to bounce.

Fan-tastic. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Some features of modern stadiums are simply breathtaking or incredibly well-reasoned. Alas, some older grounds also boast truly unique features that make them a cut above the rest of the cookies. 

Champions League To England: Don’t Screw This Up

Can you hear it? Playing over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again? It’s the Champions League anthem. The best thing to happen to Tuesdays and Wednesdays since Frasier went off air is nearly back. 

Thursday marked the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco but we know you only care about two things, so let’s get them out of the way.

Qarabag was drawn into Group C and Christian Pulisic is in Group H, with two more matches against Real Madrid in store, not to mention a date at Wembley. 

Five English Clubs, Five Chances For Heartbreak In Champions League

With Liverpool’s 6-3 aggregate pasting of Hoffenheim on Wednesday, the English Premier League put five clubs in the Champions League for the first time. That’s five chances for English fans to cry over their clubs failing to come through in the continental competition.

Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012 but since then English clubs have barely sniffed the final. In 2015, no EPL team even made it past the Round of 16.  The days of 2008 — when the EPL had three of the four semifinalists, including both teams in the final — are barely visible in the rearview mirror. 

Hackers Reveal Young Footballers Like To Party, Pwn World Anti-Doping Agency

Russian hackers Fancy Bears dropped a complete non-story this week regarding the use of banned substances in soccer. You see, the typical SHOCKING TRUTHS UNCOVERED AND REVEALED that we’ve come to associate with hacking were nonexistent in this information dump, which is insane given football’s history of being corrupt to the core.

Maribor Keeper Shows Off Most Amazing Reflexes To Keep His Team In Champions League

Everyone loves a good hero. Jasmin Handanović was that hero on Tuesday night for NK Maribor in a Champions League playoff against Hapoel Be’er.

Holding on to a slender aggregate lead on away goals in the 90th minute, the Maribor goalkeeper came up with an incredible sprawling save to keep his team ahead. 

Having Always Battled Injuries And Baldness, Age Is Just A Number For Arjen Robben

At 33 years of age, Bayern Munich must surely be contemplating how they’ll ever manage to replace Arjen Robben on the right wing. Robben gives the impression of having been around this game forever, and with good reason. The 2017-18 campaign will mark his 18th as a professional. The fact that he’s been bald for the majority of them and is permanently recovering from/suffering a muscle injury only adds to his distinguished agedness.

Real Madrid Have The Nicest Goal-Scoring Streak In Football

You can tell it's going to be a special season for Real Madrid. One stat proves everything:

How Much Would It Cost For Manchester City To Buy Messi?

Every football club in the world wants to buy Lionel Messi, but there are only a few that can even begin to think about maybe trying to buy him, because Messi would cost a truly absurd amount of money. We'll start with Lionel Messi's $352.7 million release clause, a sum so insanely high that until a few weeks ago it was unfathomable that anyone would ever pay it, even for the best footballer ever.

Like The Petty Ex Who Can’t Let Go, Barcelona Sues Neymar For $10 Million

Barcelona is on the market for a new beau. The club is on Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, everything searching for someone to fill the hole in its left wing heart left by Neymar. But Barca sees Neymar smiling and laughing with a new love in Paris and gets angry.

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