On Tuesday night, Liverpool saw off Benfica 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. It was fairly routine for the Reds, who could have scored more but also could’ve conceded a couple. Regardless of the final result, Liverpool was a bit lucky the Mo Salah tackle on Danilo Pereira did not draw severe punishment.
Following Lille’s 1-1 draw with Reims on Sunday, PSG had a chance to clinch the Ligue 1 title with seven matches remaining by defeating eighth place Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes.
With the title just a matter of time, Thomas Tuchel elected to hand starts to the likes of Colin Dagba, Leandro Paredes, Layvin Kurzawa and a forward line spearheaded by Christopher Nkunku and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting.
Who doesn’t love a good Hulk smash?
No, not the radioactive green behemoth from the comic books, good old Givanildo Vieira de Sousa, better known as Hulk, the Brazilian beefcake renowned for his muscular appearance and ridiculously strong left peg.
Hulk, formerly of Porto and Zenit St. Petersburg, is in his fourth season in China with Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League. He scored his first goal of the new campaign on Friday and it was classic Hulk.
What is the softest material in the universe? Is it a baby’s pure skin? The fur of your best dog/cat friend? A kiss from your mother? Your “My Pillow” that is more expensive than a pillow has any right to be? Or is it this Lionel Messi free kick vs Espanyol?
I’d argue it’s the latter.
Barcelona defeated Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday at the Camp Nou, moving at least temporarily 13 points clear of second-place Atletico Madrid in the LaLiga standings. Lionel Messi scored both goals, hitting at least 40 for a remarkable 10th straight season.
Although England’s performance against the Czech Republic was thrilling and Scotland’s humiliation to Kazakhstan was funny, there’s not a lot to get excited about in Euro 2020 qualifying as nearly half of the competing nations will ultimately earn a place at the 16th European Championship.
The reigning World Cup champions were always expected to trounce little Moldova to open Euro 2020 qualifying on Friday. But the class and beauty on display in France’s first goal was another stunning reminder of the quality of the best team in the world.
France was marvelous in its run to the World Cup title last summer and pretty much the entire roster was back for the start of Euro 2020 qualifying this week. Chief among those were Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba, who combined for the opener against Moldova on Friday.
You gotta feel bad for Cagliari regista Luca Cigarini.
During a Serie A match against Fiorentina on Friday, Cigarini scored what could have been the best goal of his career, launching a free kick from his own half into the back of the net.
But the goal didn’t count.
No, it wasn’t the result of VAR or suspicious refereeing (well, maybe a little of the latter). Instead, it was a case of a direct vs indirect free kick scenario.
There are some things that are inexcusable on the pitch, like throwing a punch, spitting on an opponent or stomping on a player. Then there are those that are unimaginable, like what happened during the Amed SK vs Sakaryaspor match on Saturday.
Amed SK vs Sakaryaspor is one of the bigger rivalries in Turkey’s third division, but there’s no excuse for what it appears Mansur Calar did on Saturday before the two teams played to a 1-1 draw.
Last night, León (The Club That Landon Built) defeated Pumas 3-1 in a match that was played 10-on-10 for 20 minutes. José Juan Macías, Ángel Mena and Vinicio Angulo were among the goals for León, who stayed within touching distance of Tigres and Monterrey at the top of the Clausura table.
As a striker, you’ve gotta do whatever it takes to score. Sometimes that means bending the rules and using your hand. Sometimes that means using every inch of your body, like this Edin Dzeko goal vs Frosinone on Saturday.
AS Roma had a wild trip to Frosinone’s Stadio Benito Stirpe on Saturday night. The home side led after five minutes, Roma took the lead with two goals in 72 seconds and Frosinone equalized in the 80th minute.