Cristiano Ronaldo had been subbed off, as had goal scorer Aaron Ramsey. So needing a goal late to see off Lokomotiv Moscow, Juventus winger Douglas Costa took things into his own hands.
Costa almost single-handedly smoked the entirety of the Lokomotiv defense to score a stunning 93rd-minute winner as Juventus eked out a 2-1 win in Champions League Group D play on Wednesday in Moscow.
There’s a term in multiplayer video games called KSing — kill stealing — that refers to one player getting credit for a kill when another did most of the hard work.
Aaron Ramsey just KS’d Cristiano Ronaldo.
Paulo Dybala did not start Tuesday’s match well. His first touch was a mess early on, he failed to provide much to the attack as Juventus went behind in the first half and many were surprised he wasn’t pulled when Gonzalo Higuain was brought on in the second half.
But by the time he was subbed out in the 81st minute, Dybala was the star — the match winner having scored twice, including an epic golazo to spark the Old Lady to a 2-1 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow.
Ahead of Juventus’ Champions League clash against Lokomotiv Moscow at Allianz Stadium on Tuesday, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke to the media about the club’s direction under new manager Maurizio Sarri and his form at the age of 34, while also issuing a stern rebuke to critics that claim he’s somehow holding back both Juve and Portugal with his predatory play.
Match Day 8 in Serie A confirmed the early trends we’ve seen in Italy: It’s going to be an incredible title race between Juventus and Inter, while it’s going to be another season in hell for AC Milan. However, while those two plot points will dominate the headlines for months to come, a lot of the talk over the next few days will concern the wonder strike that Cagliari’s Radja Nainggolan hit against SPAL on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo has, without a doubt, matured over his years as a global soccer superstar. But there’s still no doubt he wants to be the hero, he wants to be the one scoring goals and he wants to be at the center of everyone’s attention.
That doesn’t mean Ronaldo isn’t capable of humility and knowing where his bread is buttered.
A lot of the pregame hype for Juventus vs. Atlético Madrid surrounded the matchup between Portugal’s past-and-current king, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Portugal’s future king, João Félix.
But the match was decided by the matchup between Mexico’s Héctor Herrera and former Arsenal man Aaron Ramsey, two second-half substitutes.
A video of Juventus’ training session Tuesday has taken social media by storm. The clip features a frustrated Gonzalo Higuain lashing out during a game of rondo (monkey in the middle).
Higuain lost it in training today pic.twitter.com/k6BaXEyS6c
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 17, 2019
108 days after Liverpool lifted the Champions League trophy in Madrid, we’re set to do it all over again with a competition that’ll reach its conclusion on May 30 in Istanbul. Matchday one begins tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept. 17) with a couple massive group stage encounters before carrying through to Wednesday with a couple more.
Below, we’ll highlight those four games while also breaking down the Champions League TV schedule on TNT.
Tuesday, September 17