Game Recaps

Paris Saint-Germain defeated Liverpool 2-1 at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday to put itself in a great position to qualify for the Champions League Round of 16. Liverpool, meanwhile, must now defeat Napoli at Anfield on Dec. 11 to have any chance of progressing. 

In the end, Liverpool’s vaunted attack only generated one shot on target, and PSG’s attacking trident of Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Edinson Cavani thoroughly outshone Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané on the night.

The 2018 Women's Africa Cup of Nations kicked off last Sunday to determine which CAF teams will be headed to France next summer. Similar to the Concacaf format, eight teams were divided into two groups, with the top two teams in Groups A and B advancing to the knockout rounds. The winners of the semifinal matches would automatically qualify for the World Cup while the losers would go head-to-head in a third-place match to determine the final CAF spot. 

Much like the Imperial AT-ST Walker trod across the Endor forest floor, crushing the skulls of small Ewoks beneath its step, so is the Juventus Galactic Empire squeezing the life out of its opponents faces. 

We’re only a third of the way through the season, but an eight-point lead in Serie A feels pretty unassailable for the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back Italian champions, and Tuesday's 1-0 win over Valencia in Turin at Allianz Stadium secured passage to the Champions League Round of 16 for the fifth straight season.

The use of VAR is a great thing; it’s a necessary development in the game. If you find someone who disputes that, you’ve probably found someone who doesn’t really understand how the system works. However, as the World Cup demonstrated, it can be great while still inviting contentious debate. The system is there to help referees, but it’s still that humanoid umpire making the final call. 

Arsenal extended its unbeaten streak in all competitions to 17 with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth in Premier League action Sunday, and the game’s opener was one of our favorites from the month of November.

Jefferson Lerma — Bournemouth’s record $32 million summer signing — scored his first goal for the club against Newcastle United back on Nov. 10, but today, he was the unfortunate scorer of a banging own goal.

With 30 minutes on the clock, the Colombian laced a side-volley that flew past Asmir Begovic in goal. It’s a spectacular finish in every sense of the word.  

Atletico Madrid was close to one of its trademark wins against Barcelona — Diego Costa scored on a set piece and the defense shut the door on the other end.

Then Ousmane Dembélé stepped up with a great equalizer in the 90th minute to cap an intense top-of-the-table 1-1 draw at the Wanda. 

Barcelona came into the match with a one-point lead over Sevilla and Atletico atop the LaLiga table (Real Madrid far back in sixth after losing 3-0 earlier in the day). 

For all the reported leaks in the footballing world right now — Cristiano Ronaldo rape allegations, Financial Fair Play improprieties, Sergio Ramos testing positive for a banned substance — one leak is more surprising than any other this season. The one in Real Madrid’s defense. In particular, Thibaut Courtois stats with Los Blancos after a shocking 3-0 loss to Eibar on Saturday.

Tuesday night’s friendly match between Argentina and Mexico was a fittingly strange closing to a strange year for both nations: Mauro Icardi scored his first international goal at the eighth time of asking, and Paulo Dybala also opened his account in his 18th appearance. 

Germany’s inexplicably poor calendar year came to a close today with another bad result — Die Mannschaft drew with the Netherlands 2-2 in Gelsenkirchen after holding a two-goal lead through the 84th minute. 

What’s more, although Germany already knew it’d be playing in UEFA Nations League B after suffering relegation this time around, the final match of the campaign represented an opportunity to deprive the Dutch of a spot in the Nations League Finals, however, Virgil van Dijk’s 91st-minute equalizer sends the Oranje to Portugal next summer.