Culture

There's a man with a chainsaw in the stadium and we're not in Portland

Things got a little out of hand during a recent CAF Champions League quarterfinal between Espérance and JS Kabylie in Tunisia. The match experienced a 40-minute delay to the second half after fans clashed with security forces around the stadium, and firefighters were required to put out several small fires in the stands.

Also, a storage room was looted and some of the equipment was later seen being used in the riots, including a chainsaw. According to Reuters, the chainsaw-wielding man has since been arrested.  

Portland's Robin Hood impression and who will win the Wooden Spoon? 5 takeaways from MLS Matchweek 10

Matchups at the top and bottom of the table make for some interesting reading. The two best teams in the East faced off in Foxborough, while Kansas City played host to both the NFL Draft and a struggling Montréal side to varying degrees of success. In the West, dropped points from Seattle, St. Louis, and San Jose only gave more life to LAFC on their week off. 

The rites of spring: 10 things all soccer players understand

Springtime is finally here, marking a return to outdoor soccer across the country after a particularly brutal winter. It's time to play the game the way the Football Association intended.

With the changing of the season comes certain rites of spring that all players will recognize.

Spring soccer season: 10 things we all understand

#1. Securing the bag.

10 MLS players who are worth the price of admission

The weather's warming, the flowers are blooming and your local MLS side is calling — it's tailgating season. If you're looking to schedule an outing, here are 10 players who are worth the price of admission.

There's no sound science behind this ranking so warning, some readers might be offended. But I really don't think you'll have a bad time watching any of these guys play live. 

The 10 Best MLS players 2023

#10. Jordan Morris | Seattle Sounders

Position: Left winger

LaLiga joins the growing list of rebrands gone horribly wrong

The old LaLiga logo wasn't perfect. It was guilty of what I consider a cardinal sin: containing that damn generic soccer ball that's way too heavy-handed in getting its point across. 

But LaLiga had established a powerful brand identity with its iconic color wheel over the past 30 years, and when news broke of an all-new LaLiga logo for the 2023-24 season, the initial thought was concerning how the league would reimagine and update the famous design while retaining some sense of history. 

Sporting KC’s nightmare season continues and Earth Day kit confusion: 5 takeaways from MLS Matchweek 9

The league table is finally taking shape as the top teams separate themselves from the pack while the league's cellar dwellers cling to every point that will hopefully save their seasons. There were several struggling teams that earned massive wins while some top teams slipped up, making for another thoroughly entertaining matchweek. 

The sports have never been later at night — we propose a modest solution

El Tráfico was a blessing. Yes, it was thrilling to see Carlos Vela and Tyler Boyd exchange golazos before Raheem Edwards demonstrated why the LA Galaxy are truly "The Meme Team" by launching a throw-in into his own box, but what really highlighted the match was being able to watch it all unfold on a lazy Sunday afternoon — an entirely forgotten timeslot since MLS moved to Apple TV.

Your guide to understanding and enjoying the Premier League Relegation Battle Royale

Premier League relegation is a simple concept: Your team was not good enough this season so they, and two other teams, have to drop down to the tier below (the Championship) and will play their games there next season. Conversely, the Championship will promote three teams to the Premier League to take their places (let’s not get into the playoffs). This toing and froing happens all the way down the league structure.

Is this the cheekiest penalty of all time?

Looking at the Ligue 1 standings, it's safe to say that bottom-of-the-table Angers are destined for relegation.

On Sunday, the club travelled to mid-table Clermont Foot in one of the most unremarkable matches across France this weekend, meaning it was up to the supporters to largely entertain themselves at Clermont's modest Stade Gabriel Montpied.

The traveling Angers fans — hoping to witness just a fourth victory in 31 attempts — had a little corner to themselves and could be seen wearing black for the first 20 minutes.

3 guys figure out how to watch Barcelona for free

It's not every day you get a chance to see Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Busquets, Gavi and LaLiga champions-elect Barcelona in the flesh, so spectators used any accessible vantage point at the Alfonso Pérez stadium on Sunday to get a glimpse of the traveling Blaugrana. 

Following a 0-0 draw (Barça's second in a row), it's probably fair to say the main story actually concerns those who missed the trip through injury (Ousmane Dembélé and Pedri), but three ingenious young men avoided paying a dime for the nil-nil affair by scaling a large tree.

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