English Clubs

Look what you’ve done, Pep, Sergio and Vincent. Your unparalleled skills and ruthless execution have induced tears from a youngster. Are you proud of yourselves? It was bad enough you turned an entertaining Carabao Cup final into a boring rout, but the indelible image of the match will be of a crying child at the merciless destruction of his beloved Arsenal.

Romelu Lukaku has been criticized this year for not scoring against the top clubs. He went a long way toward diminishing that reputation by supplying a goal and an assist for Manchester United vs Chelsea in a 2-1 victory for the Red Devils on Sunday at Old Trafford. 

For the first time since the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Arsenal have been drawn against AC Milan in European competition. But, with the encounter now taking place in the Europa League and the added coinkydink of both sides sitting sixth domestically (both are also eight points back of fourth place), there’ll be a lot of glorious nostalgia mixed with contemporary handwringing before the San Siro first leg on March 8.

Back in 2003, NHL goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. He was unreal, but the following offseason, with Giguere’s infamously large gear the inspiration, the NHL implemented pad restrictions and a $25K fine for teams found guilty of ignoring the rule. In essence, Giguere could no longer resemble the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. 

Watching David de Gea tend the net is like watching Giguere in the days of yore. He’s obviously cheating.