Shocking

Carlo Ancelotti has seen it all. If you think that the Real Madrid team he coached last year was the most talented team he has ever managed, then you haven’t heard of the AC Milan sides of the mid 2000s. Yes, the 2014/15 version of Real Madrid had Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, and Toni Kroos; yes, all of those players could be the best player at a top club.

Not content with emmbroiling itself in match-fixing allegations and flying in $3 million in cash to pay its players mid-way through a World Cup, the Ghanaian FA has added chauvinism to its resume with the wholly serious suggestion that domestic teams entice “sexy girls” to their stadia in a bid to boost attendance.

A report on Twitter has David de Gea’s transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid collapsing. 

The documents did not arrive on time!!!!!! Presentation was ready. All agreed. But as it stands de Gea stays at MUFC!!

— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) August 31, 2015

No one is safe from the inflated prices of major sporting events these days, not even babies. Roso Castellsagues found this out first hand as she was charged €54 for her ten-month-old child to gain admission to the second leg of the Spanish Supercopa.  

Apparently, a young Finnish striker named Eero Markkanen was released by Real Madrid Castilla because he entered preseason camp 18 kg (40 lbs) heavier than he was last season.

40 lbs in gained weight is nothing so scoff at. That’s like a third or a fourth of a person that this guy tried to walk into camp with. I don’t care if he’s 6’ 5” and his nickname is “The Tank” — he is and it is — that’s ridiculous.

Markkanen responded to being let go on Twitter. 

Recently relegated English club Queen’s Park Rangers have dodged a Financial Fair Play sized bullet after claiming improperly counted losses. 

QPR reported a loss of just under 10 million pounds with roughly another 60 million pounds written off in loans. Whether or not the owners were aware that the 60 million written off in loans would count towards the entire total of 2013/14, the entire season’s losses totaled to roughly 70 million pounds. 

Normally, even an average professional soccer match will draw thousands of fans. Not the case for a recent match up between two teams in the Colombian League, Atlético Huila and Alianza Petrolera. Incredibly, only 2 fans bought tickets to attend a match in a stadium with a capacity for a 20,000+ person crowd. 

So Barcelona got beat out by Athletic Bilbao for the rights to the Spanish Super Cup. More accurately, they get embarrassed. The first game was a 4-0 drubbing that absolutely no one saw coming, and the next was embarrassing for what happened, and what didn’t. 

Journalist Rasim Aliyev of Azerbaijan was killed after being beaten by a fan for criticizing Javid Huseynov, also of Azerbaijan.

According to the BBC, Aliyev accused Huseynov of being "immoral" and "ill-bred" in a Facebook post after Huseynov made a crude gesture at a reporter who asked why Huseynov waved a Turkish flag at the supporters of a team from Cyprus. The gesture came following a Europa League qualifier between Gabala FC and Apollon Limassol.

It's good to be Cristiano Ronaldo's friend these days.

Jorge Mendes, Ronaldo's agent, found that out when Ronaldo acted as best man in Mendes's wedding. Ronaldo's gift for the couple: a Greek island.

Despite Greece's recent financial troubles, islands are still pretty pricey, with the cheapest of 12 listed islands for sale in Greece at 3 million Euros.