Men

The 2015-16 Premier League season was dominated by two stories: the remarkable rise of Leicester City and the shambolic title defense of Chelsea. This season, the roles have been reversed. As a barometer of the contrasting performances, one needs to look no further than the play of wingers Eden Hazard and Riyad Mahrez.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 at the Camp Nou in the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg, and Barca advanced to the final, 3-2 on aggregate. That description does absolutely no service to what's just transpired in Catalonia. 

This match included three red cards, a wrongfully disallowed goal, a ridiculous free kick from Messi that thundered off the crossbar, a contentious penalty, a missed penalty and all the other drama you’ve come to expect from a match between these two clubs. 

In the span of four days, Arsenal let slip any hopes they had of overtaking Chelsea for the Premier League title, and in typical Arsenal fashion. Despite being eight points behind Chelsea before the midweek fixtures, Arsenal had a chance to put some pressure on the Blues at the top. The Gunners were taking on mid-table side Watford at the Emirates Stadium while Chelsea traveled to Anfield to face top-four contenders Liverpool.

In the summer of 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson, who had managed the club since 1986, announced his retirement from Manchester United, taking 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups and two Champions League titles with him. 

The Red Devils attempted to continue their unmatched level of success with the hiring of David Moyes, who’d managed Everton with aplomb for over 10 years. Moyes’ first and only season at the helm was an unmitigated disaster. 

Last season, the Colorado Rapids shocked the world of the MLS by exploding into the playoffs, where they lost in a shootout in the Western Conference semifinals to the eventual MLS Champions, the Seattle Sounders.

The reason no one expected the Rapids to do well last season is since they won the MLS Cup in 2010, the Rapids have a combined record of 54-72-44. However, a few additions for the Rapids helped them in rising back to the top of the league: Dillon Powers, Tim Howard, Shkelzen Gashi, Marlon Hairston, Marco Pappa and Dominique Badji. 

Chelsea’s victory over Arsenal on Saturday was marked by a strange phenomena that led to the end of midfield enforcer Francis Coquelin’s career. Coquelin was employed to stop suspicious characters from running straight through the Arsenal midfield, but he failed after suffering spontaneous human combustion while tracking Eden Hazard. 

He exploded into hellfire. There is no adequate explanation for this bit of poltergeist, in fact, referee Martin Atkinson adjudged it to be a foul, which is a pretty terrible way to treat someone who’s just suffered self-detonation.