One of my favorite plays in basketball, aside from the occasional nutmeg, is the self-alley-oop, where a player throws the ball off the backboard before catching it and throwing down a thunderous dunk. U.S. rising star Catarina Macario essentially did the soccer version of that on Wednesday.
Paris St Germain will face Real Madrid in a titanic clash in the last 16 of the Champions League while Manchester United take on Atletico Madrid after UEFA declared the original draw void due to a technical error in the process on Monday.
Earlier, United were mistakenly drawn with Villarreal, even though both teams had already faced each other in the group stage while the Premier League side's ball was not added to the bowl as a potential opponent for Atletico Madrid.
Round of 16 draw ✔️
After a decade-plus of domination by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, fans expected Ballon d'Or voting to bring some different results in 2021.
The obvious choice was Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, who was coming off a record-breaking 41-goal campaign in the Bundesliga.
Instead it was Messi — seemingly entering the twilight of his career — who won the award for the seventh time. "Surely something must be done," the people exclaimed at this perceived injustice. "He still can't be the best player in the world."
There was nothing on the line for PSG during Tuesday's Champions League group stage finale against Club Brugge with Manchester City already clinching top spot and the Parisian side locked in second, although the Belgian's harbored faint hopes of achieving a result at the Parc des Princes to qualify for the Europa League above RB Leipzig — that dream was dead inside seven minutes.
Only two minutes in, Kylian Mbappé punished Simon Mignolet for struggling with an effort at his near post, although the 22-year-old Frenchman's finish was ice cold.
Lionel Messi won his record-extending seventh men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday. Anyone who watched him carry both Argentina and Barcelona over the last year knows he absolutely deserved it. But even Messi admitted on Monday that Robert Lewandowski deserves the 2020 Ballon d’Or.
On Sunday morning, for the first time this season, all of Paris Saint-Germain’s heavy hitters graced the pitch together, including a debut for Sergio Ramos at the heart of defense alongside Marquinhos. Up top, Saint-Étienne squared up with the quartet of Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Ángel Di María.
When these teams met in Paris a couple of months ago, Manchester City bossed the game but PSG still won by two. In Manchester, the Citizens didn’t quite dominate as much, but they came away with what matters most: more goals.
PARIS — Repeated crowd problems in Ligue 1 are putting the future of French soccer at risk, French Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu said after Sunday's game between Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique Marseille was abandoned due to fan violence.
The disciplinary commission of the French League (LFP) on Monday said that Lyon would play their Ligue 1 home games behind closed doors until it rules on the incident on Dec. 8 after an investigation.
PARIS — Lionel Messi scored his first Ligue 1 goal as Paris Saint-Germain opened a 13-point lead in Ligue 1 despite playing almost half an hour with 10 men in a 3-1 home win against Nantes on Saturday.
Messi found the back of the net with a curled left-footed effort from outside the box three minutes from time, adding to Dennis Appiah's own goal after Randal Kolo Muani had cancelled out Kylian Mbappe's first-half opener.
AMSTERDAM — Veteran Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal suffered a hip injury when he fell off his bicycle on Sunday but will be able to coach his team in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against Norway in Rotterdam.
Van Gaal, who was cycling near the team hotel when he fell and was taken to hospital for tests, used a golf cart to conduct Monday's training before the Group G decider, where the Dutch need a draw to seal a place at next year's finals in Qatar.