Italy

There’s enough to Zlatan Ibrahimović that — despite your opinion on his ego and how he handles himself — he’s essentially a stand-alone force when it comes to pure entertainment. 

No athlete on the planet transcends myth, legend and reality quite like Zlatan, just as no other athlete would proclaim themselves god before backing it up in the most incredulous way: The 39-year-old is at the top of the Serie A goalscoring charts and AC Milan is top of the table.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic might leave AC Milan's next penalty to team mate Franck Kessie, he said after missing his third spot kick of the season in their 2-2 draw with Verona on Sunday.

The 39-year-old later scored Milan's equalizer in stoppage time but not even that could diminish his frustration.

ZLATAN SKIES THE PENALTY pic.twitter.com/vWbOXGIEPR

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 8, 2020

Lazio substitute Felipe Caicedo scored in stoppage-time for the second week running to earn his side a 1-1 draw at home to Juventus in Serie A on Sunday after Cristiano Ronaldo had given the champions a first-half lead.

The Ecuadorean, who grabbed a 98th-minute winner at Torino last weekend and notched a late equalizer in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Zenit, leveled in the 94th minute to end Juve's resistance after Lazio had dominated the second half.

Weston McKennie, the 22-year-old Texan, has a lot of egos to deal with while on loan at Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo obviously looms large in any locker room, but you know folks like Álvaro Morata, Paulo Dybala, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey and Juan Cuadrado want to see their share of the ball. Remarkably, McKennie aided two of the largest personalities on the squad without even touching the ball. And yes, we’re calling it a Weston McKennie assist, because America god damnit.

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo scored three minutes into his return following a COVID-19 infection and then added a penalty to help the Serie A champions to get a 4-1 win at Spezia on Sunday.

The 35-year-old, out of action for nearly three weeks after testing positive for the virus, came on in the 56th minute and almost immediately put Juventus 2-1 ahead. Adrien Rabiot added a third before Ronaldo scored with a Panenka-style penalty in the 76th minute to complete their win.

"SIIIIIIIUUUU"

The irrepressible Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored an acrobatic late goal, taking his league tally to seven this season, to give Serie A leaders AC Milan a hard-fought 2-1 win at Udinese on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic, with his back to goal, hooked the ball into the net with an overhead kick in the 83rd minute despite not making proper contact after Sebastien De Maio had sliced an attempted clearance high into the air from Ante Rebic's cross.

Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from a COVID-19 infection, the Serie A club said on Friday.

. @Cristiano recovers from Covid-19https://t.co/4etecyAw0O pic.twitter.com/YPZSm0My8A

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 30, 2020

Lionel Messi has yet to score from open play this season, his only three goals coming from the penalty spot. At times his finishing makes it appear as though he could care less about scoring for the club that strong-armed him into staying in Barcelona colors this year.

But the Argentine can still strike the ball like few who have ever played the game. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the Juventus squad for the Champions League match at home to Barcelona later on Wednesday, two weeks after first testing positive for COVID-19.

The Portuguese had been hoping to return in time for Wednesday's match and, although there was no official comment on his condition, he was not included in the squad announced by Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo. Reports on Tuesday suggested Ronaldo tested positive for Covid again this week.