The 14-point gap separating rivals Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga was never going to be a factor here. Even the home advantage Bayern enjoyed at the Allianz Arena in this DFB-Pokal semifinal was no reason to believe that this latest version of Der Klassiker had a clear favorite.
A horrid back-pass allowed Barcelona's Lionel Messi to sprint through on Osasuna’s goal in the 12th minute of Wednesday's La Liga encounter. As for the goal, I don’t even know. Messi’s first touch is with his head, he then juggles the ball to keep it elevated and then pops it over Salvatore Sirigu with his third touch.
It’s absurd.
Every club that’s had an extended run in the Premier League is a perfect example for the transitive property (If a=b and b=c, then a=c) that affects modern football:
Given Cristiano Ronaldo Jr's father is one of the best footballers in the world — and, indeed, of all time — we should not be remotely surprised at the content of this video.
Rebecca Lowe nearly hacked up a lung at halftime of the Chelsea-Southampton match Tuesday. The NBC studio host was coughing so hard she had to leave the set while Kyle Martino took over her spot. This all happened live, on air.
I have had coughing fits like this, and they are not a lot of fun. I imagine they are even worse when one is on national television.
Less than a week after suffering a torn ACL and possible damage to his PCL, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is scheduled to visit Dr. Freddie Fu at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Fu is well known for pioneering the double bundle technique to repair ACL tears, the method that most effectively restores natural knee movement patterns.
Odds are that you haven’t yet come down from the high that was Sunday’s El Clasico. A constant back and forth battle was settled by the greatest soccer player of all time (I’m Argentinian, what else can I say) with a decisive strike in the final seconds of the match.
While the game itself was a peach to watch, its ramifications are far-reaching in terms of who will come away with the La Liga trophy. Barcelona’s win at the death allowed for “¡Hay Liga!” shouts across the world.
Lionel Messi scored his 500th goal for Barcelona in style, catapulting Barca back into La Liga's title race at the expense of their greatest rivals, Real Madrid. His historic feat is all the more impressive considering that Gerd Muller of Bayern Munich was the last player to score 500 goals for one club. He left Bayern in 1979.
After Lionel Messi clinched a last-second victory in El Clasico on Sunday with his 500th career goal for Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo threw a fit.
Not sure whether Ronaldo was more annoyed at losing #ElClasico or the fact that Messi took the limelight again. pic.twitter.com/ZgdJerbFpq
Nine goals. Nine. Four goals for Inter, five for Fiorentina. I think it’s fair to say that no one expected that. Elsewhere, Juventus demolished Genoa with four goals and no reply. Expected. Lazio rumbled right over Palermo, going five-nil up in thirty minutes and finishing the game six to one. Expected. Napoli drew two apiece away at Sassuolo. Not that expected, to be honest, but not that shocking. But Fiorentina five, Inter four? That’s a result that makes you sit up and take notice.