Phenoms

Christian Pulisic put on a display of modern footballing excellence (handball!) in Chelsea’s 4-0 Champions League win over Krasnodar on Wednesday. Chelsea’s one-goal advantage was under siege when Pulisic entered the match in the 71st minute, but the American quickly smashed a shot into Alyaksandr Martynovich’s arm for a penalty, whiffed on an overhead kick, provided a hockey assist on Hakim Ziyech’s goal and finally scored one of his own. 

It was 19 minutes of pure Pulisic Ball. 

It’s not getting any better than this for 19-year-old goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin and Shakhtar Donetsk — or is it?

Last Wednesday, Shakhtar travelled to the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano and pulled off an incredible 3-2 upset of 13-time European champion Real Madrid despite missing 10 players through a combination of injury and pandemic. That match marked a Champions League debut for Trubin, who recorded three saves.  

Santiago Muñoz’s path to Real Madrid via Newcastle United is beginning! On Sunday, the very close namesake of the famous Goal! film series (Santiago Munez) logged his first Liga MX minutes with Santos Laguna during his side’s 2-1 win over Atlético San Luis. 

I don’t know if Spanish newspaper ABC is indeed as pathetically racist as it appears to be, but it’s hard to think otherwise after its recent game report of Barcelona’s Champions League win over Ferencváros on Tuesday. The author’s half-assed non-apology only heightens my suspicions. 

Christian Torres' 93rd minute goal gave Los Angeles FC a 1-1 draw with the Portland Timbers on Sunday night in Portland.

The 16-year-old forward, who entered as a substitute in the 75th minute, scored his first goal of the season, and LAFC stole two points from the Timbers (9-5-4, 31 points).

THE YOUNGEST PLAYER EVER TO SCORE FOR #LAFC.

Schalke 04 on Sunday apologized to 15-year-old Borussia Dortmund player Youssoufa Moukoko after their fans hurled abuse at the teenager following his hat-trick in the Under-19 Ruhr derby.

"We can only apologize to Youssoufa Moukoko for what fans shouted during the Under-19 game," Schalke said on Twitter. "Putting emotions of a derby aside, we fully condemn such insults and reject them. We will take the necessary measures together with the Schalke fan department."

Sheffield United and Fulham picked up their first point each of the Premier League campaign after a cagey 1-1 draw at Bramall Lane on Sunday.

Despite being dominated in the first half, it was Fulham who took the lead in the 77th minute through Ademola Lookman. But United kept up the pressure and leveled the tie in the 85th from the penalty spot through Billy Sharp.

Bayern Munich opened the defense of its DFB Pokal crown on Thursday against FC Düren. For those keeping track at home, Düren is in Germany’s fifth tier, so the final score of 3-0 Bayern wasn’t unexpected, but honestly slightly flattered the title holders. 

Bayern’s win wasn’t really ever in doubt, but Düren held its own — the players can go home proud of the fact they fared better against the European champions than Barcelona. 

The 20-man (boy) shortlist for the 2020 Golden Boy award was revealed on Thursday and it’s bursting at the seams with talent. Here's the full list of star players under the age of 21 that could win this prestigious award.

I’m thanking my lucky stars that I'm not in charge of choosing the winner because picking only one is nearly impossible.