Manchester City did not sweat a lot to destroy Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. It was an easy ride with the sunroof open for every fan at the Etihad stadium, as the team was leading 1-0 (Leroy Sané) by the second minute and bombing Fulham’s 18-yard box the rest of the game.
With Argentina in flux under interim manager Lionel Scaloni and this international break containing only two inconsequential friendlies being played in the United States, Lionel Messi’s absence from the squad directly following his exertions in Russia came as no surprise, despite the myriad of hot takes that are attempting to read between the lines.
IMPORTANT: Simply click/tap on "CC" in the video above to turn on the English subtitles.
Lionel Messi gave a rare, extended interview with FC Barcelona's YouTube channel, and the far-reaching sit down offers everything from Messi's new status as Barcelona's captain to his son Thiago's growing understanding of the game.
A weekend of petulance, playacting and red cards in Liga MX sent Tigres manager Tuca Ferretti over the edge, a reaction that was largely triggered after Guido Pizarro was given a straight red card in the 23rd minute for a fairly innocuous piece of contact with Toluca’s Luis Mendoza.
If you want to watch something truly pathetic today, here’s Jose Mourinho, the manager of 20-time English champion Manchester United (squad value of just over $1 billion), acting scared shitless at the prospect of playing Brighton & Hove Albion (squad value of $183 million) in the second week of Premier League action because of the World Cup impact on club season preparations.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made an appearance on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on Tuesday, and the LA Galaxy forward was full of his usual bluster, saying, among other things, that he could help LeBron James lift the Los Angeles Lakers back to relevance by trying his hand at the “basket.”
Iker Casillas and Mohamed Salah both issued their support to goalkeeper Loris Karius after Liverpool lost 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund on Sunday. Karius has been under fire since Liverpool lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
France and Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Greizmann has made his love for America’s sports culture no secret. Let us remind you of last week, when he interrupted Paul Pogba’s post-World Cup interview to exclaim his love for Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Derrick Rose. Antoine Griezmann interrupted Pogba’s interview to say: “I love Derrick Rose.”
— Footy Jokes (@Footy_JokesOG) July 17, 2018
In her post-game interview on July 7 after playing former club Sky Blue, Chicago Red Stars forward Sam Kerr did not want to talk about her hat-trick or the satisfaction of clinching three points on the road. Rather, Kerr used the mic in front of her to say this: “I wish things were better here [at Sky Blue]. I’m just going to say the girls deserve better and I’m just going to leave it at that. These girls are great girls. They give everything of themselves for this club and this league and they just deserve better.
Croatia players and manager Zlatko Dalic were gracious in defeat yesterday, admitting that France deserved the victory following second half goals from Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe. However, the likes of Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic still left traces of disgust and defiance in their words when discussing the final’s turning points, particularly the VAR-assisted handball call against Ivan Perisic that sent Antoine Griezmann to the spot in the 38th minute.