Cristiano Ronaldo has collected his fourth Ballon d’Or as the top player on the planet, according to France Football magazine, for 2016. Having led Real Madrid and Portugal to victory in the Champions League and at Euro 2016 respectively, Ronaldo now trails Lionel Messi, who has five in his collection, by only a single award.
Loris Karius, who last season was voted the second-best goalkeeper in the Bundesliga, is in a war of words with Gary Neville, who has never been a goalkeeper but is paid to pretend he knows things about goalkeeping on TV.
The 2016-17 Champions League Group Stage has finished with all the usual contenders set to battle it out in the round of 16. Monday’s draw has handed us the following match ups:
No goalkeeper is immune to the vast amount of criticism that will inevitably come their way. Whether being rounded on for a costly howler, unavoidable inexperience or just a perceived general lack of command, a keeper's life is an incessant trial by fire.
A 20-year-old David de Gea making consistent Premier League appearances for Manchester United during his first season in England was a “dodgy keeper” that needed “to grow into his kit”.
A torn ankle ligament, adductor problems, a toe injury, hamstring injuries, osteitis pubis and muscular problems: all have conspired to give us less Marco Reus in our lives than we should ever be happy with. The 27-year-old doesn’t even have 30 caps for Germany yet, which is an offense to the footballing gods.
FC Barcelona have confirmed through their official Twitter page that they’ve invited Brazilian club Chapecoense to play in the 2017 Gamper Trophy, an annual preseason friendly match held in August at Barca’s Camp Nou stadium.
According to the club, the match “aims to help with the reconstruction of [Chapecoense]” following the tragic airplane accident which claimed the lives of 71 people, including 19 of Chapecoense’s players.
Amputee footballer Tommy McKay, a diehard supporter of Scottish football club Dundee United, won the Scottish Premiership’s Goal of the Month for November with this wonderful chip at halftime during Dundee’s match against Dunfermline.
Tommy McKay wins the SPFL's goal of the month for sensational half-time chip https://t.co/oTJWVLonRW pic.twitter.com/34yq1ceByV
Cristiano Ronaldo just has to try to outdo Lionel Messi in everything, doesn't he?
The Real Madrid star is now under investigation for cheating on his taxes and could even face jail time. Like Messi, though, even if Ronaldo is convicted he will probably have his sentence suspended, as he would be a first-time offender.
The school of Barcelona detests the characterization of tiki-taka when discussing their style of play, so let’s just say that Barca passed the s*** out of Gladbach when the two teams met on Tuesday in the Champions League.
One of the reasons that this conception of zonal play is met with such derision from the likes of Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique is the fact that it denotes an attack devoid of entertainment and sterile in the extreme.
Turkish football supporters are unwavering. They’re unwavering in their delight at waving “Welcome to Hell!” signs at opposition teams when arriving in Turkey, at lighting enough flares and creating enough noise to actually make their home stadia seem like hell and in their support of their beloved clubs. Istanbul’s Besiktas are 14-time champions of the Turkish top-flight, but they’ve never advanced from the group stage of the Champions League.