The cycle of an underdog team capturing an unbelievable title and then providing one of the worst title defenses ever seen is a tale as old as time. After all, winning back-to-back championships is classified as one of the most difficult exercises across sports, even when you're strapped to the teeth with finances, resources and world-class depth like Manchester City.
A few days ago, the Campeonato Pernambucano's first leg final gave the world a cute image when a police dog invaded the pitch. The pup ran into the field, played with a ball and melted hearts worldwide — a completely different situation to the horrific one we witnessed Saturday night in the second leg when a player from Clube Náutico tried to attack referee Deborah Cecilia after being sent off.
For those that've experienced relegation, it forever stings like the lasting memories of a once passionate love affair that only serve to propel you through the final months of simply going through the motions.
You know it's ending, you refuse to accept it's ending, it ends. It crumbles into nothingness — just nightmares of a disinterested Michael Owen trodding around the halfway line of your heart and all your good intentions deflecting off Damien Duff and into your own goddamn net at a gleeful Villa Park.
West Ham United said they have identified two individuals who allegedly attacked two German radio commentators during Thursday's 2-1 home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League semifinal.
It was all set up for Inter Milan to retake the lead in the race for the Serie A title. Just beat 13th-place Bologna and the blue half of Milan would overtake the red half for first place with four games to go.
Instead, backup goalkeeper Ionuț Radu committed one of the worst howlers in the history of European football.
Bologna knocked off Inter Milan 2-1 thanks to a calamitous mistake from Radu, who whiffed on the ball from inside his own six-yard box, allowing Nicola Sansone to swoop in and poke home the match winner in the 81st minute.
Houston Dash head coach and general manager James Clarkson, the only NWSL head coach who was around at the start of 2021, is on his way out. The NWSL’s investigation into league-wide harassment and abuse recommended Clarkson’s suspension, and the Dash immediately obliged Tuesday night.
— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) April 27, 2022
To say 2021 was a bad year for women’s soccer in the U.S. would be an understatement of epic proportions. In October, The Athletic detailed horrifying allegations of verbal abuse and sexual coercion by N.C. Courage coach Paul Riley, sending shockwaves through the NWSL.
Rising USWNT star Catarina Macario continued what's arguably been the finest season ever by an American abroad by scoring twice in Lyon's 3-2 first leg Champions League semifinal victory over French rival PSG at Groupama Stadium on Sunday.
Things started poorly for the home side when PSG's Marie-Antoinette Katoto diced Wendie Renard in the area before beating Christiane Endler at her near post in the sixth-minute.
Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes said Jesse Lingard described the Old Trafford club's dressing room as "a disaster."
United's bid of finishing in the Premier League's top four suffered a blow after they lost 3-1 away to Arsenal on Saturday, with the team slipping to the sixth spot in the standings on 54 points, six points outside the top four with four games left.