Well, that’s that then. Football made a good run at it, but it's over now. Francesco Totti has played in his final professional match, and while it went exactly as Roma had hoped sporting-wise (they achieved direct qualification to next season’s Champions League), it was easily the worst day in the club’s history.
Francesco Totti's lap of honour pic.twitter.com/YhL4SqG1Yz
Lionel Messi turned in a Midas-like performance in Saturday’s Copa del Rey final — everything he touched turned into gold. He opened the scoring for Barca in the 30th minute with an unstoppable effort from 18 yards out, he was heavily involved with a “hockey assist” in Neymar’s goal and then he settled the match before halftime with a sublime feed for Paco Alcacer and Barcelona’s third.
Outside of these pivotal moments, Messi was unplayable. He registered 101 touches in the game, including four key passes, four shots and a staggering nine successful dribbles.
Juventus and Bologna wrapped up their Serie A campaigns with a meaningless match featuring the champions-elect and the side in 15th. For a match with absolutely nothing riding on it, this game still had its moments.
The first was provided by Bologna midfielder Saphir Taider. The Algerian international opened the scoring in the 52nd minute with this sensational effort from distance.
One day we’ll look back on the 2016-17 AS Monaco side in disbelief — how did one club house Kylian Mbappe, Thomas Lemar, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho and Tiemoue Bakayoko (all 23 or younger) at the same time? Their Ligue 1 triumph and Champions League semifinal run will live long in the memory, but the dismantling of the most exciting side in European football has begun, starting with 22-year-old Portuguese attacker Bernardo Silva.
After finishing the season in 11th place, West Ham United have signed now former Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta.
According to Sky Sports, Zabaleta has agreed to a two-year deal with West Ham, which will begin at the end of June when Zabaleta's contract with Manchester City expires.
Depending on who you choose to believe, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has already handed in his transfer request and will be looking to leave Borussia Dortmund immediately following Sunday’s DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt or he hasn't.
Let’s get one thing out of the way: these cats are young. They’re like kittens in that sense — feral, attack-minded, alley kittens. It’s easy to get hyped on talent at the FIFA U-20 World Cup because the game, at this age, so heavily favors attackers. The goals are beautiful, but they’re generally scored in acres of space and triggered by a breakdown in midfield or defense.
Ronaldinho could’ve been sent off hundreds of times in his career for unsporting behavior. Blessed with otherworldly control and technique, the Brazilian would frequently contort the rules of the game for his own benefit. It wasn’t fair, nobody else could or can do it now, but he got away with it because he was a god. As we all know, life has two great questions: 1.) Is there a heaven? 2.) How did Ronaldinho get this good?
Manchester City defender Jason Denayer, who spent this season on loan at Sunderland, said he was reacting instinctively when he kicked a man in the head during a brawl in Belgium.
The 21-year-old's agent said Denayer "was in the wrong place at the wrong time".
City defender Jason Denayer was filmed kicking a man in the head during a brawl outside a bar in Brussels. pic.twitter.com/x0jTwdjJDr
There’s still another round of matches to play in Serie A. Sure, Juventus have won the title. Sure, they printed some pretty cringe-worthy ‘LE6END’ merchandise and plastered it everywhere. Sure, Napoli and Roma seem set in their Champions League spots. Sure, every position in the league is seemingly sorted, bar Crotone and Empoli bickering about who gets to be the third worst team. Sure, the league is pretty much done and dusted. But we still have one round of fixtures left.