When FC Barcelona signed 12-year-old prospect Cristobal Munoz from a youth side affiliated with Malaga last March, the deal was heralded by Barcelona-based daily Sport as the capture of “the hottest young prospect in Spanish football.”
Manchester City out-possessed Newcastle United 78%-22%, out-passed them 824-228 and outshot them 21-6, but Raheem Sterling’s goal off another sublime Kevin De Bruyne assist was the only difference in Wednesday night’s encounter at Saint James’ Park.
City’s winning streak hit 18 matches while the gap on second-place Manchester United grew to 15 points, but Rafa Benitez’s charges could’ve put a halt to their run in a manner which would’ve had Pep Guardiola guzzling his traditional post-match champagne.
It’s not an easy thing to break into the Paris Saint-Germain midfield as an attack-minded 21-year-old. With a guaranteed front three of Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe balanced by the automatic midfield selections of Adrien Rabiot and Marco Verratti, there’s only one remaining spot outside of defense for the likes of Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler, Javier Pastore, Thiago Motta and Giovani Lo Celso (the 21-year-old referenced above) to battle for.
Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere has responded to rumors linking striker Mario Balotelli with a return to Serie A (Milan and Inter being the destinations bandied about) by saying, “Mario leaving? No, that’s impossible. You know his importance. It’s unimaginable.”
Burnley’s sensational quest for European football continued apace Tuesday with an improbable 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. Ashley Barnes gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the third minute after a free kick into the box was eventually scrambled home, then Steven Defour went direct with a sensational effort in the 36th minute, leaving David de Gea fanning the air.
It's a SportsCenter Top 10 certainty.
On the pitch, Luis Suarez is insane. It’s part and parcel of his playing style. He doesn’t offer the aesthetic subtleties of his Barcelona teammates, but instead harnesses the inner energies of a footballing Babadook to terrorize defenses with whatever means are at his disposal.
During Saturday’s El Clasico, there was a two-minute spell — between the match’s 54th and 56th minutes — that brilliantly encapsulated the art of Suarez.
When the starting lineups for Saturday’s El Clasico were announced, there was really only one surprise in the 22 players named for battle: Zinedine Zidane’s decision to drop Isco to the bench in favor of Mateo Kovacic. For many, Isco has been Real’s best player over the past year — a footballer of sublime skill, technique and playmaking ability — while Kovacic’s inclusion meant one thing only: Lionel Messi limitation.
Barcelona opened up a nine-point gap at the top of La Liga with an astounding 3-0 victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Saturday. Real now trail the leaders by 14 points, a seemingly insurmountable margin when coupled with what transpired over the final 45 minutes in Madrid.
We demand more Friday night lights at the Emirates. After the Gunners opened the season in August with a wildly entertaining Friday night win over Leicester City, the Arsenal vs Liverpool match in North London was arguably even better to start the festive fixtures on Friday. Liverpool scored the first two goals before three goals in five minutes from Arsenal, only for the Reds to equalize in a fantastic 3-3 draw between two of the best clubs in the English Premier League.
Snow is great — you get to stay home from school, build snowmen and throw snowballs at each other (or so I’m told; I grew up in Texas where we didn’t get snow.) Snow also can make for great television, like for Panathinaikos vs Lamia in the Greek Cup on Thursday.