The Camp Nou was just over half full on Sunday as Barcelona — already confirmed league champion — hosted Getafe in the penultimate game of the LaLiga season. Ernesto Valverde named a strong lineup for the meaningless match, giving the 57,000 in attendance the chance to voice their displeasure at the capitulation the team suffered last Tuesday at Anfield.
Last night in Amsterdam, Tottenham’s Lucas Moura scored the latest-ever match-winner in the history of Champions League regular time (90+6’) to transform the scene inside Johan Cruijff ArenA from that of full-fledged euphoria to utter devastation.
Real Madrid completed its penultimate home match of the season when recording a 3-2 victory over Villarreal on Sunday. With a Champions League spot already secure next year, los Blancos have nothing to play for, and that fact was mirrored in the stands at the Santiago Bernabéu.
It seems as though football fans become more emboldened the better their team does. And while many British supporters like to claim they’re better than their continental counterparts when it comes to racism, violence and general hooliganism, Liverpool fans are proving they’re a despicable lot ahead of the Champions League semifinal first leg in Barcelona on Wednesday.
Borussia Dortmund and Schalke are heated rivals, but nothing excuses what happened to Jadon Sancho during the Revierderby on Saturday at Signal Iduna Park.
The home side went in the lead in the 14th minute when Sancho’s delicious lob into the box was headed home by Mario Götze.
After the goal, the Dortmund players celebrated together in the right corner. Soon after, Sancho was requiring medical attention, holding his right eye.
We all know what it would mean to Liverpool if the club could capture its first league title since 1989-90, but something similar has gone down in Greece where PAOK has just been crowned Super League champions for the first time since 1984-85.
Based in Thessaloniki — the most populous city in Greece outside of Athens — PAOK had suffered heartbreak after heartbreak following that 1985 title, including finishing runners-up in both 2015-16 and 2017-18.
On the back of an impressive hat trick from 19-year-old phenom João Félix, Benfica is poised to advance to the semifinals of the Europa League for the first time since making it to the final in 2013-14. The club’s desperate for European success — a feeling that’s directly tied to the curse of Béla Guttmann.
The new Minnesota United stadium, Allianz Field, is finally open. And the Minnesotans opened it in style.
Allianz Field is the new pinnacle of soccer stadiums in the U.S. At $250 million, it’s the most expensive soccer-specific stadium in the country’s history. It seats 19,400, has 96 beer taps (is that enough?), lights up at night and is absolutely gorgeous.
In the first game in the new stadium, the Loons unveiled an epic tifo that summed up the feelings of a city that’s waited a long time for this.
Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, or just the Lyon women for short, is the best team in Europe. Lyon has won three straight Champions Leagues (five since 2011) and the last 12 (yes, a full dozen) Division 1 Féminine league titles.
You can now add a new attendance record to the list of Lyon triumphs.
Lyon hosted Paris Saint-Germain in what was essentially the title decider on Saturday at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, which later this summer will host the Women’s World Cup semifinals and final.
It hasn’t been a good start to the season in Vancouver. Still without a win, the Whitecaps welcomed the LA Galaxy to BC Place on Friday night.
The match actually started well for the home side, which was immediately awarded a penalty kick. But left back Ali Adnan’s awful Panenka attempt failed and the Canadian fans began to turn on their team.
Dare to Zlatan? pic.twitter.com/dWYPWlthkj