According to a recent article from Henry Winter in The Times, Manchester United’s academy dressing room proudly displays an image of Lionel Messi cleaning his own boots following a 2016 friendly between Argentina and Croatia at the old Boleyn Ground in London.
Here's the aformentioned image.
On the eve of a Manchester Derby that could decide the Premier League title, Pep Guardiola has revealed some pretty destabilizing claims concerning Paul Pogba’s past, present and future at Manchester United. According to Guardiola, Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, offered his client to the Citizens over the January transfer window.
“The football I grew up playing is no longer there. Today, all players care about are their cars, their shoes with their names on, and their image. While for me, the only thing that counted was football. Nothing else.” -Miroslav Klose
Football is under attack. It’s a sentiment that, regardless of how much it resonates with you, is often expressed and passionately argued. Whatever the reason, be it the influx of money, the unsporting concentration of talent or the diminished draw of the international game, there’s cause for cynicism.
Juventus play Real Madrid today, and if Gianluigi Buffon has anything to say about it the Italians will approach this game with an entirely different mindset than the last time these two teams met.
"I'd say we went into the Cardiff game over-confident and that was mistake number one. At the same time on the night Madrid were the better side and I hope for a better performance from Juve on this occasion," the 40-year-old told Diario AS.
When Barcelona drew Roma in the Champions League quarterfinals back on March 16, many penciled the LaLiga leaders straight through to the semis. This is, after all, Barcelona’s 11th consecutive appearance at the quarterfinal stage. For Roma, it’s their first in 10 years. If you want to place a bet on Roma winning the first leg at the Camp Nou, you’ll get 14-1 odds on that punt.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived in Los Angeles last week and has wasted no time in reaching peak levels of Zlatanocity.
To start, there was the full-page, five-word ad he took out in the LA Times to announce his arrival. Then there was his first training session with the club, during which he had to be dragged away from shooting practice so that he might remain fresh for this Saturday's LA derby.