Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona have had a weird last ten days. Barca hoisted the UEFA Super Cup trophy in Tbilisi, Georgia on August 11th thanks to a 117th minute goal from Pedro that defeated a Sevilla team 5-4. Sevilla had clawed back from a 4-1 second half deficit to send the game into extra time.
Recently relegated English club Queen’s Park Rangers have dodged a Financial Fair Play sized bullet after claiming improperly counted losses.
QPR reported a loss of just under 10 million pounds with roughly another 60 million pounds written off in loans. Whether or not the owners were aware that the 60 million written off in loans would count towards the entire total of 2013/14, the entire season’s losses totaled to roughly 70 million pounds.
Just off the western coast of Morocco lies a volcanic archipelago known as the Canary Islands. Despite its size, the Spanish-controlled territory has developed a locally based premier division called the Preferente which combines with the fifth division of Spanish football. Local Canary Island club Raqui San Isidro are becoming more popular by the day in the Preferente since Pedro’s transfer from Barcelona to Chelsea.
However much Jose Mourinho may claim that last Sunday’s shellacking from Manchester City was "a fake," the bare facts are that Chelsea have played six games (two EPL, one Community Shield and three pre-season friendlies) thus far this season and haven’t won a single one of them.
So what, or who, is to blame for The Blues’ sloth-like start?
Chelsea made the long-rumored move official on Wednesday when it made its first major addition of the summer by swooping in to sign winger Pedro for £21M from Barcelona. While the player must still pass his medical, the deal looks like it is officially done.
Memphis Depay’s confidence has been evident ever since he had his first official press conference for Manchester United. He owned the podium that day. “We have to play for the trophies,” he said, like he had to get so many loafs of bread. And that’s not to say he came off as arrogant, quite the opposite: he alternated often between admitting he needed to work hard and listen to his manager.
Reports from Germany – following on similar stories in the British press last weekend – claim that Manchester United has bid $95 million for German international striker Thomas Muller. Louis van Gaal enjoys a close relationship with the player, whom he handed his Bayern Munich debut back in 2008, and is keen to test the Bavarian club’s resolve to hang onto one of their star men.
The Premier League has brought in a lot of players this offseason with plenty who show promise of filling the boots of those who have left England. Two players in particular, Jordan and Andre Ayew, are newcomers this year and are looking for anyway to put their names up in headlines. Just like the Toure or Wright-Phillips brothers before, the two Ayew brothers bring a sibling rivalry to the league that is one to watch for.
We were going to call this article “10 Things I Hate About Mou”, but decided it suggested a degree of familiarity with teenage rom coms that no grown man should admit to. So instead, in the week that Jose Mourinho publicly belittled his medical staff for doing their job and then heavily reduced team doctor Eva Carneiro’s role within the club for acknowledging some people on Facebook, The18 brings you the Portuguese’s 10 biggest dick moves of the last decade.
Arsenal fans were left shocked this past Saturday as West Ham defeated the title hopefuls 2-0 in the season opener. This was supposed to be Arsenal’s season; with a strong finish last season the Gunners were expected to continue where they left off. But instead, they looked flat and lacked any real sense of urgency.