Let’s be honest, divers ruin a lot of what’s great about soccer. Flops slow the game down, they win undeserved free kicks and generally just create more annoyance than enjoyment.
But sometimes, the diver’s acting is so unbelievably poor that the dive itself becomes a work of art. Usually, it’s some of the best players in the world that are doing the diving, which seems counterintuitive.
Chivas Guadalajara blew an early lead by allowing three straight goals in a loss to Kashima Antlers in the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals. Then the Japanese club ran into Real Madrid. Namely, it ran into Gareth Bale.
How many goals has Messi scored? It’s hard to answer, because right this very instant, he dropped Jérôme Boateng and chipped Manuel Neuer. In the time it took you to read that sentence, he just scored a hat-trick against Levante. Lionel Messi has scored 664 goals in his career for club and country, so yes, I’m slightly exaggerating, but only slightly.
The Champions League Round of 16 draw results are in, and although we have to wait until mid-February to get started, some things are too tasty to be left on the back-burner for that long. Here’s a look at all eight matchups, and an incredibly scientific ranking of which ties get us all hot and bothered.
Spectacular. The round of 16 draw
The genius of Lionel Messi propelled Barcelona to a 5-0 victory over Levante on Sunday evening in Valencia — the Argentine was involved in all five goals with a hat-trick and two assists. Luis Suarez also had a goal and was heavily involved in setting up two of Messi’s. The 31-year-olds are alright.
The first goal arrived in the 35th minute after Messi danced across the top of the box. With defenders circling and closing around him, Messi pulled off an impossible reverse ball which Suarez converted with sublime control.
Atlético Madrid and France forward Antoine Griezmann has never shied away from telling us his interests. We know that the 27-year-old loves Drake, the NBA, Fornite, Uruguay and hates being overlooked for the Ballon d’Or.
Replacing Cristiano Ronaldo’s average of 50 goals per season throughout his nine-year stay in Madrid has (surprise!) proven impossible for Los Blancos. Things probably reached rock bottom following that 5-1 defeat to Barcelona back in October — the climax of a five-match winless streak in LaLiga that included defeats to Alavés and Levante — but yesterday’s 3-0 loss to CSKA Moscow at the Bernabéu is right up there with that torrid stretch.
The Champions League on TNT has had its share of snafus. But what we saw on Tuesday might have been the toughest to watch for fans of the beautiful game.
Turner Sports has not proven a great steward of the world’s most popular annual tournament since taking over the U.S. broadcast rights from FOX starting with the 2018-19 season.
Ousmane Dembélé is a hero of our time, “a man proud, moody, cynical, with defiance on his brow, and misery in his heart,” and capable of exhibiting both sensitivity and distrust in equal measure — look no further than former Atlético striker Kiko describing him as “the most contradictory player I’ve seen” as proof of his status as the melancholic romantic hero of the 21st century. But, to keep the Lermontov reference going, does an unusual beginning necessitate an unusual end?
The J1 League came to a close on Nov. 30, and with it, Andres Iniesta’s first season with Vissel Kobe. Iniesta’s club finished 10th, but the 34-year-old was a huge success during his shortened, 14-game season — he scored three goals and added three assists, including this beautiful strike in Vissel Kobe’s final match.