Ray Hudson wasn't on this game for BeIN Sports, but he should have been, because WOW.
Sadly, this game probably won't count for anything because the second leg is at the Camp Nou and Barcelona are Barcelona. But it was fun, so it should be appreciated.
Athletic Bilbao opened the scoring, to the surprise of everyone.
No one saw RB Leipzig's season coming. The newly-promoted, corporation-owned club found themselves level on points with mighty Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga heading into their match Wednesday.
A meeting between two clubs sitting side-by-side in the Premier League table turned out to be a thoroughly one-sided affair, Manchester United traveling to the Hawthorns to play West Bromwich Albion and comfortably winning 2-0.
The gap between the top six sides in England and the rest of the division appears to be pretty large on the evidence of Saturday’s match between the Red Devils and the Baggies. United are now unbeaten in eight consecutive EPL matches, and they’ve drawn level, at least momentarily, with Tottenham, who have a game in hand.
Chelsea defeated Sunderland 1-0 on Wednesday to open an early six-point gap on nearest rivals Arsenal and Liverpool. The goal was scored by Cesc Fabregas, a player who suddenly looks very much like the footballer that led Chelsea to the 2014-15 Premier League title by forming an excellent understanding with Diego Costa.
When it comes to the Premier League this season, many are seeing it as one of the most unpredictable campaigns in recent memory. There are plenty of quality teams battling it out at the top end of the division, but when you take a good look, there are only a few real contenders that shine through. Unfortunately for any Gunners fans out there, Arsenal do not fall into that category.
Boca Juniors retained their place at the top of the Argentine Primera Division table by defeating rivals River Plate in the Superclasico on Sunday. Carlos Tevez was instrumental in Boca’s success, scoring a brace and registering his sixth assist in 10 league appearances in their 4-2 victory at River Plate’s El Monumental stadium.
Stanford have repeated as NCAA College Cup champions by defeating Wake Forest in penalties. A scoreless encounter in Houston gave way to penalties, Stanford goalkeeper Andrew Epstein proving to be the hero with two big saves to win the shootout 5-4.
The first half showcased the talents of Stanford goalkeeper Epstein. The redshirt junior was voted to the NCAA Division I Men’s All-America second team on Friday, and he came up with two big saves in the first half to deny both Jon Bakero and Ian Harkes.
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.
We’re one final match day away from wrapping up the Champions League group stage, but we can already draw a number of conclusions based on Tuesday’s play. For one, whoever draws group runners-up Bayern Munich in the round of 16 has every reason to feel extremely aggrieved.
By virtue of finishing behind Atletico, Bayern could conceivably be drawn against the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal, Juventus, Leicester City or Borussia Dortmund/Real Madrid (the battle between Dortmund and Madrid in Group F will be settled tomorrow).
The Derby della Capitale was drenched in narrative. In a sporting context, the word narrative might well be overused to the point of meaninglessness, but there’s not many other ways in which to focus on the 90-minute battle between Lazio and Roma that took place on Sunday.
In purely sporting terms, it was a fascinating game. Roma, second in the league and easily fulfilling their role as perpetual also-rans, came up against arch-rivals Lazio, who were themselves only a point behind.
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