Ousmane Dembele made his long-awaited return from injury in Barcelona’s Copa del Rey Round of 16 first leg match versus Celta Vigo, but the headlines were written by the man he replaced in the 72nd minute, 22-year-old winger Jose Arnaiz.
It’s one of the first lessons you learn playing soccer (or most any sport): play to the whistle. That tenet is even more important in the age of VAR, when professionals know the referee can consult replay to confirm goals, at least in countries that aren’t in the Dark Ages. The Mario Mandzukic goal vs. Torino was the result of Juventus punishing its rival for not playing to the whistle in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Atletico Madrid gave themselves an unassailable four-goal advantage heading back to Madrid for the second leg of their Copa del Rey Round of 16 encounter with third division side Lleida Esportiu on Wednesday. Diego Godin and Fernando Torres opened the scoring in the first half, and then Lleida had to contend with second half substitute appearances from both Diego Costa and Antoine Griezmann, both furthering Los Colchoneros’ advantage.
Papu Gomez became a club legend at Atalanta B.C. last season after his goals fired the club to a fourth-place finish in Serie A (their highest-ever league finish) and qualification for the Europa League. Hopefully you’re familiar with the forward’s goalscoring celebration, a dance which was turned into a viral sensation.
If you’re like most of the (of age) world, you went out and had a few too many drinks on New Year’s Eve. Maybe you’re not feeling too bubbly this morning after all the bubbly at midnight. Fortunately, we’ve got just the thing for you: magnificent Premier League goals.
Having last made a competitive appearance in 2014 for Atletico Paranaense, Inter Milan legend and former Brazilian international Adriano made a triumphant return in the world-renowned Maracana stadium for a friendly this week. The 35-year-old looked healthy and happy after years of troubling rumors concerning his alcohol abuse and falling in with Rio favela gangs.
The reception he got from the stadium and his fellow players was heartwarming to say the least.
Breaking news from The Eighteen Dot Com: Marek Hamsik is in the Illuminati. There is simply no other way to explain this confluence of events from Friday. How else do you rationalize No. 17 scoring in the 17th minute for his 117th goal with Napoli in the final game of 2017, all while wearing a patch with Hamsik’s face and the No. 17 on it?
Marek Hamsik, the Slovakian midfielder who has played for Napoli in the Serie A for a decade, was honored during the match by his Italian club, which wore patches to honor him as the club’s all-time leading scorer.
Two weeks after being named the 2017 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund attacker Christian Pulisic added another first to his individual trophy cabinet: the accolade for December’s Bundesliga Goal of the Month.
It was the eighth Bundesliga goal of Pulisic’s career, but the first to be named Goal of the Month. The composed finish against Hoffenheim from December 16 gave Dortmund all three points in the 89th minute.
When FC Barcelona signed 12-year-old prospect Cristobal Munoz from a youth side affiliated with Malaga last March, the deal was heralded by Barcelona-based daily Sport as the capture of “the hottest young prospect in Spanish football.”
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere has responded to rumors linking striker Mario Balotelli with a return to Serie A (Milan and Inter being the destinations bandied about) by saying, “Mario leaving? No, that’s impossible. You know his importance. It’s unimaginable.”