Let’s be honest, we’ve probably just witnessed the most calamitous weekend Paris Saint-Germain will suffer all season in France’s Ligue 1. No PSG player was able to get on the scoresheet in their match against Lyon on Sunday, but the Parisian club still managed to win 2-0 by forcing two own goals to maintain their perfect start to the season.
Last year Chelsea went through the entire campaign without drawing a single red card on the way to the Premier League title. This year Antonio Conte’s side is taking a decidedly different approach. Chelsea has raced to an early lead in the race for most red cards in the Premier League.
In the space of a week, Manchester City has defeated Liverpool, Dutch champions Feyenoord and now Watford by a combined scoreline of 15-0. In those three matches, Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero has provided five goals and two assists, including a hat trick and an assist in Saturday’s 6-0 hammering of Watford at Vicarage Road.
Barcelona continue to set the pace at the top of La Liga following a spirited, come from behind victory at Getafe on Saturday. A wonder goal from Gaku Shibasaki gave Azulones a shock lead, but second half strikes from Denis Suarez and Paulinho maintained Barcelona’s perfect start to the season after four matches.
Grumblings of an early crisis on Tyneside appear to have been hugely premature on the back of another Newcastle United victory on Saturday, their third straight in the Premier League. With a 2-1 win against Stoke City, Newcastle climbed into the Champions League places and confirmed their finest start to life in England’s top division in six years.
Sparta Rotterdam goalkeeper Roy Kortsmit had to work a bit of overtime on Friday night. After a questionable penalty was awarded to AZ Alkmaar, Kortsmit saved it not once but twice.
Although it’s easy to see why the referee called for a foul in the box, slow-motion replay shows Sparta defender Sheral Floranus poked the ball away before taking down Thomas Ouwejan.
Messi is amazing at everything, but the thing he's most amazing at is wriggling out of tight spaces. As the best player in the world, he constantly finds himself surrounded by three to five members of the other team who have no qualms about getting all up in his personal space. This does not seem to bother Messi as much as it should. It would bother us a lot, and we are not even claustrophobic.
To illustrate just how good Messi is at navigating very small spaces, here's eight minutes of Messi doing exactly that.
Spartak Moscow fans are going to make the 2018 World Cup in Russia so much fun. Supporters of Narodnaya komanda (The People’s Team) traveled to Slovenia for the club’s Champions League match against NK Maribor on Wednesday and set the town on fire. Literally.
Spartak fans skirmished with police wearing riot gear before the match.
In a Champions League group with Real Madrid and Tottenham, every point matters for Borussia Dortmund. Spurs torched BVB 3-1 on Wednesday in the UCL opener, Dortmund came away with an arguably more important victory: a gif win.
There’s an immediate hot take available here that I just can’t commit myself to: the departure of Neymar from Barcelona has had an uplifting effect on 33-year-old midfielder Andres Iniesta, and El Ilusionista is about to enjoy the consummate season because of a mixture of peak footballing intelligence and a proverbial unchaining on the left-hand side of Barca’s midfield.