Underdogs

With a 1-0 victory over Newcastle United, Huddersfield Town rose to second place in the Premier League table, sitting behind Manchester United on goal difference alone. We’re only two weeks into the season, but the Terriers are off to an almighty flyer in the top division.

German-American coach David Wagner and his squad are Invincibles.  

This week’s result isn’t as eye-catching as their 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, but Huddersfield looked exceptionally more qualified for life in the Premier League than fellow newcomers Newcastle.

The 2017 Copa Libertadores round of 16 wrapped up last Thursday, and among the advancing quarterfinalists will be some of the usual South American powers. Traditional favorites will be three-time winners River Plate and Santos, two-time champions Gremio and 2014 victors San Lorenzo.

But four remaining sides have never captured the Copa Libertadores trophy in their history: Brazil’s Botafogo, Argentina’s Lanus, Ecuador’s Barcelona and Bolivia’s Jorge Wilstermann.  

Typically, second round qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League are ho-hum affairs featuring clashes between footballing “minnows” from Europe’s lesser leagues and dominant clubs from decidedly top-heavy ones.

Where Scotland’s Celtic FC fits into this picture is up for debate, but what can’t be argued is that its upcoming tie against Linfield FC, a semi-professional club from Belfast, Northern Ireland, will be anything but boring, both on and off the pitch.

A record-setting crowd of 32,287 packed into FC Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium to watch their club take on surging MLS side Chicago Fire in the Round of 16 of the U.S. Open Cup. Perhaps there’s no greater barometer for the growth of the sport in America than the fact that this wasn’t just a quirky Wednesday night excursion to the stadium to watch Bastian Schweinsteiger for FCC faithful, this was a seething cauldron of tensions and daring expectancies.

Paris, London, Madrid, Rome, Venice — all are world renowned cities, but one is not like the others. 

Every major European city is also represented by an internationally famous soccer club too; that is, every city except Venice, Italy. 

But that might soon change. Just last week, Venezia FC secured promotion to Serie B, Italy’s second division. That may not sound like much, but given the club’s history, combined with its newfound ambition and financial backing, Italians are now paying attention to the team from the Venetian Lagoon.

February 22nd, 2017: The jig is up. Leicester City have escaped Sevilla with only a single-goal deficit, but the final scoreline could’ve and should’ve seen Sevilla travel to the King Power Stadium with a three or four goal advantage. 

Leicester City are done and dusted — they’ve been tactically found out, the one-year wonders of Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and a defensive backline that’s suddenly had a massive epiphany regarding their own individual shortcomings means that the Foxes are doomed.

Leicester City have defeated Sevilla 3-2 on aggregate (2-0 on the night) to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals behind goals from Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton. Sevilla had Samir Nasri sent off in the 74th, a penalty saved by Kasper Schmeichel in the 80th and were ultimately left to rue their wastefulness in the first leg. This was Leicester's night. 

Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare sent out the same XI that had defeated Liverpool and Hull City in his first two games in charge, Shinji Okazaki being the main beneficiary of the managerial change.