Paulo Dybala scored a superb goal before leaving the pitch in tears with an injury as Juventus beat Sampdoria 3-2 in Turin on Sunday, their first home victory of the Serie A season.
The Argentina international fired a low shot into the bottom corner after 10 minutes but limped off soon after with a muscular problem.
Paulo Dybala picked out the corner with ease pic.twitter.com/PQOZgkLKCz
Unless you’re someone who paid for early access, FIFA 22 comes out in a week. Until then, we got an early preview of the game on Saturday when Inter Milan and Atalanta scored some ridiculous goals you normally only see in video games.
Inter and Atalanta played a thrilling 2-2 draw on Saturday, with both teams thinking they’d won it late only for circumstances to rule otherwise. The draw was probably fair and allows us to focus on the first two goals of the match, which looked straight out of a video game.
One of Italian football’s most famous names returned to a Serie A scoresheet on Saturday when Daniel Maldini netted in a 2-1 win for AC Milan over Spezia on his first league start for the club.
The 19-year-old followed in the footsteps of his father Paolo and grandfather Cesare, two Milan greats, by scoring in Italy’s top flight with a 48th-minute header, which sent the Rossoneri top of the table.
It had to be him!
"Life goes on" was the message from coach Massimiliano Allegri after learning of Cristiano Ronaldo's desire to leave last month, but four Serie A games into a future without their former talisman, Juventus continue to go from one disaster to the next
The reaction in Turin to the Portuguese forward's departure for English Premier League side Manchester United was mixed.
Inter Milan broke in its beautiful third kit with a 6-1 rout of Bologna on Saturday. Edin Džeko came off the bench to score twice, including a wonderfully cheeky nutmeg goal, allowing us to forgive his awful whiff on a cross that was later put away by Matías Vecino as Inter ran riot at the San Siro.
Over a decade ago, Arjen Robben perfected using an overlapping run as a decoy to cut inside and launch a long-range shot. On Saturday, Riccardo Saponara did one better, using the flight of a random bird on the pitch as a dummy run to score a smashing goal to help Fiorentina beat Genoa 2-1.
A litany of players can make the claim that they have netted goals in the Champions League and Europa League. With the introduction of the Conference League the question must be asked, has a player scored in the Champions, Europa and Conference League? After the first ever match day in Conference League history, the answer is yes. His name is Lorenzo Pellegrini.
England's Manchester United and Italy's Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo's current and former teams, both suffered hefty financial losses for 2020-21 as the coronavirus crisis drained European soccer stadiums of fans.
While Executive Vice Chairman Ed Woodward expressed confidence in United's recovery as Old Trafford hosts capacity crowds for the first time in almost 18 months, Juventus said it would also end its 2021-22 financial year, which will still be heavily affected by the pandemic, with a "significant loss."
When people ask me why I love soccer, I usually talk about how no sport allows players the freedom of creativity like the beautiful game. Maestros can move the ball around the pitch the way an artist moves her paint brush. Registas can pull the strings the way a master violinist plays a solo. Finishers can bring a crowd to its feet faster than the Pope.
But also, I just love all the wacky shit that happens, like the bizarre own goal that proved to be the difference in Galatasaray’s 1-0 win over Lazio in the Europa League on Thursday.
Over the years, soccer matches have been temporarily suspended for a variety of bizarre reasons, whether it be canine pitch invasions, tennis ball protests or a pig head on the pitch, but it takes a heck of a lot for an event to end a match.