It's pretty safe to say that unless you're a Chelsea fan, you probably hate Diego Costa. His mastery of the dark arts of football tends to rub a lot of people the wrong way. He is the pantomime villain of the Premier League, the Loki of the world's game, the Iago to the Othello that is the Premier League referee.
On the score sheet, it will go down as Fernando's own goal due to deflection, but it was Gareth Bale's run and chip that got the scoring going in the last match of the Champions League semi finals. Real Madrid scored in the 20th minute and held on to defeat Manchester City 1 - 0 to advance to the Champions League final. Both teams traded chances as Bale hit the woodwork and Aguero had a shot just inches over the bar.
The city will be divided as Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will face off in Milan on May 28th.
With champions having been crowned in England, Italy, France and, very shortly, Germany, the 2015/16 domestic season is drawing to a close. While we have both the European Championship and Copa America Centenario to look forward to this summer, it's also invariably that time of year when we're subject to constant summer transfer rumors. The 2016 summer transfer window is highlighted by some big names who are hungry for a change of scenery.
In the Champions League quarterfinals, Real Madrid were in a dire situation, having lost the first leg at Wolfsburg. A Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick later, they were in the semifinals.
It's not quite so dire this time for Madrid, having drawn the semi-final first leg 0-0 in Manchester, but they basically need to win to advance.
Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid faced off today in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Atletico Madrid took a 1-0 aggregate lead into Allianz Arena, however 31 minutes in, Xabi Alonso's free kick equalized that advantage. Antoine Griezmann's 54th minute goal tied the match at 1 and gave Atleti the lead on aggregate. Lewandowski added a header in the 74th, but Griezmann's goal was the tiebreaker. Atletico advance to the finals and await the winner of Manchester City and Real Madrid.
Bayern Munich vs. Atletico Madrid
Alonso 31'
“Our country is in serious trouble. We’re having people coming in through the border that are not people that we want,” says Donald Trump in an audio clip from the Republican presidential candidate that’s being used to promote this summer’s Copa America Centenario.
The images and text that go with the audio make the speech, for the first time, seem reasonable. Marcos Rojo, Pablo Zabaleta, Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano are seen disembarking from a plane, presumably landing on American soil for this summer’s tournament. The United States is indeed in serious trouble.
Barcelona forward Luis Suárez surprised the world with statements he made to the European TV network Helden TV, in which he said he did not feel qualified to play for the Catalan club.
The Uruguayan is currently one of the figureheads of the FC Barcelona team. He is La Liga’s top scorer with 35 goals and joint top assistant with 14 assists, tied with his teammate Lionel Messi.
The image of football players at wild parties with crazy girls is reinforced every generation. What few of us might know, however, is that this image does not fit every star player. Off the field, the nicest footballers in the world maintain lasting romances with girlfriends and wives. They form couples, even in adolescence, when they were still in youth teams. The most popular player today, Lionel Messi met his wife Antonella Roccuzzo when he was just a promising young boy from the lowland areas of Argentina.
Sergio Aguero's younger brother Gaston del Castillo made his debut for Independiente on Saturday versus San Lorenzo. "Kuncito," as Argentine news outlet Ole affectionately named him, was promoted to the first team in August 2015, but he has had to wait for a while to get his first senior appearance.
Good news for Real Madrid fans: Cristiano Ronaldo is back in training. The club announced their superstar Portuguese winger completed a training session Monday, leaving the door open for the Ballon d'Or runner-up to take the pitch in the Champions League later this week.