Stats

After appearing a shadow of his former self throughout the season, particularly over a wretched three-month period stretching from early December through late February when Wes Morgan outscored him by plundering a goal against Derby County,  Riyad Mahrez sprang to life with a magical and all-important goal against Hull City on Saturday.

After twisting and turning at the top of the box, the Algerian scored his fourth goal of the Premier League season, lifting Leicester City five points clear of the relegation zone in the process.

19-year-old Frenchman Ousmane Dembele was highly coveted by almost every club around Europe following his breakout season with Rennes in the French Ligue 1 over 2015-16. Like so many others of late, he was attracted to Borussia Dortmund’s track record in developing young players and letting them play regardless of age. 

With Cameroonian international Carlos Kameni firmly established as Malaga’s No. 1, Guillermo Ochoa elected to accept a season-long loan to fellow La Liga side Granada in July. This is Granada’s sixth consecutive season in the Spanish top-flight, an achievement they haven’t bettered since a run from 1968-76. If they’re to maintain their status in La Liga, they’ll have Ochoa to thank.

The school of Barcelona detests the characterization of tiki-taka when discussing their style of play, so let’s just say that Barca passed the s*** out of Gladbach when the two teams met on Tuesday in the Champions League.

One of the reasons that this conception of zonal play is met with such derision from the likes of Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique is the fact that it denotes an attack devoid of entertainment and sterile in the extreme.

The rejuvenated heroics of Mario Balotelli saw the Italian striker score six goals in his first six Ligue 1 matches for Nice, propelling the club to the top of the table over the likes of Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain. 

It was always going to be difficult to match the success of his debut season with Bayer Leverkusen, but Saturday marked a new low in the professional career of Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. The Mexican striker hadn’t scored a goal since October 1st, and he was looking for his first goal in seven Bundesliga matches.

With the scores level in the 88th minute of Leverkusen’s match with Freiburg, Chicharito stepped up to take the penalty that would end his goal scoring drought and reverse the fortunes of a Leverkusen club that had lost two consecutive Bundesliga matches.

Goalkeepers are odd. Anyone who’s ever been forced into the position by a lack of numbers can attest that it is a lonely, nerve-racking experience back there, but that’s the life they chose. 

Individual awards have an extreme preference for goal scorers, and a goalkeeper has only ever been awarded the Ballon d’Or on a single occasion — that being Lev Yashin in 1963. 

However, these goalkeeping records show the remarkable achievements that the position has contributed to the game.

You’ve likely heard that Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United are, after 13 Premier League matches, further down the EPL table than they were during the dog days of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal. You’ve also probably been told that Mourinho has won as many games (six) in his last 20 EPL fixtures as Sean Dyche, Sam Allardyce and, yes, David Moyes. And all this after spunking a bajillion of the late Malcolm Glazer’s hard earned dollars all over the summer transfer market.

Radamel Falcao used to be the most feared striker in the world. That's not an exaggeration. At the height of his powers, he was feared more than Suarez, more than Lewandowski and more than Benzema.

In his last season at Atletico Madrid, the Colombian scored 28 goals in 34 appearances. In fact, he ranked right behind Messi and Ronaldo as one of the best players on the planet.

Just check out Falcao's stats below.

Radamel Falcao's stats: