On Saturday, 28-year-old Argentine forward Emiliano Sala confirmed his $20 million transfer from Ligue 1 side Nantes to Premier League strugglers Cardiff City. The transfer made Sala the Welsh club’s record signing.
“It gives me great pleasure and I can’t wait to start training, meet my new teammates and get down to work,” said Sala when announcing his move.
A meeting between runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain and last-place Guingamp went exactly as you’d expect on Saturday with the Parisian side romping to a 9-0 victory. (Fun fact: Guingamp has scored 16 goals all season, so PSG recorded more than half that total in just one match.)
Everything about this from Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes is simply sensational. First, the circumstances: This is a meeting between third and fourth in Ligue 1. Ultimately, third place gets a shot at the Champions League next season, fourth has to settle for qualification to the Europa League.
Saint-Étienne came into this match in third and played the role of hosts at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Things couldn’t have gone better for the home side in the opening period of play with Romain Hamouma opening the scoring in the 21st minute.
With Lionel Messi given a rest and role as a substitute for Barcelona’s match against Leganes on Sunday, Ousmane Dembélé moved into the Argentine’s customary position on the right-hand side of Barca’s front three and spent the opening 45 minutes making the Camp Nou forget all about the man they were missing.
Dembélé opening run of the match led Leganes on a merry dance. He nutmegged one defender and then was millimeters away from dicing another.
Schalke defeated Wolfsburg 2-1 in Bundesliga action on Sunday in a match replete with Americans. 25-year-old USMNT defender John Brooks anchored Wolfsburg, and promising 20-year-old attacker Haji Wright made a late substitute appearance for Schalke. However, it was 20-year-old Weston McKennie who made the difference for the home side at Veltins-Arena.
18-year-old Mexican phenom Diego Lainez made his debut with Real Betis on Sunday following his transfer from Club América. Lainez entered the fray in the 81st minute with Betis and Girona knotted at 2-2 at the Estadio Benito Villamarín in LaLiga play.
Lainez’s introduction made him the third-youngest Mexican debutant in Europe, and his positive play on both wings during the brief cameo certainly isn’t going to slow the hype surrounding him.
If you’ve paid attention to internet trends over the past few days or so, you will notice something known as the #10YearChallenge. The basic premise of it is that people post pictures of themselves from 2009 and another from 2019 to show the world how much they’ve changed — in appearance or otherwise.
Although Nani never lived up to his billing as “The Next Cristiano Ronaldo,” take nothing away from the man who currently has 112 Portugal caps to his name and is still going strong in his 14th year as a professional.
The 32-year-old made his name with Manchester United — where he won four Premier League titles and the 2007-08 Champions League — but he’s gone on to have successful stints in Turkey (Fenerbahce), Spain (Valencia) and Italy (Lazio) before returning home to boyhood club Sporting.
According to the latest reports, Mario Balotelli is on the verge of joining Marseille from Nice in Ligue 1. Despite the timing being pretty perfect to join Major League Soccer, it’s not happening. We’re just as disappointed as you are.
With Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Balotelli all in MLS, we could’ve replayed our own version of Euro 2012.
Tuesday night, Porto advanced to the semifinals of the Taça de Portugal — the country’s premier knockout competition — with a 2-1 victory over second division side Leixões.
Porto’s currently leading the Primeira Liga with a five-point advantage over Benfica, but a strong starting 11 was named for the match, including Mexico internationals Hector Herrera and Tecatito. However, the real focus was on 35-year-old center back Pepe, who was making his first appearance for the club in over a decade after his career had taken him to Real Madrid and then Beşiktaş.