Europa League

Everyone knows the famous boxing photograph of a victorious Muhammad Ali towering over the vanquished Sonny Liston. It’s an image that screams pride, power and the futility of attempting to fight the sport’s GOAT. During today’s Europa League semifinal second leg between Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt, we got a recreation of that famous moment, except Ali was substituted for Kepa Arrizabalaga (who refuses to be substituted himself) and Liston for a soccer ball.

You might want to remember the name João Félix.

Who is João Félix, you ask? Let his three goals and an assist in Benfica’s 4-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday do the talking for the 19-year-old Portuguese forward.

Félix, who sports the No. 79 on his back, scored his first career Europa League goal on Thursday, then added a second before halftime. He completed his hat trick in the second half to help Benfica take a 4-2 advantage after the first leg of the quarterfinals. 

Arsenal has been looking for a head of recruitment for quite some time now. After the departure of Sven Mislintat in February, the Gunners need someone with enough experience to bring in the right players for Unai Emery. After a somewhat underwhelming winter transfer window, the North London outfit needs some reinforcements, specifically defensively.

Chelsea’s youngest star, Callum Hudson-Odoi, has officially received the call to join England’s national team. The 18-year-old will be the youngest player on England’s squad for a pair of Euro 2020 qualifiers, joining the stacked attack of Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling.

Hudson-Odoi has quickly become a fan favorite in London, and supporters are hoping he’ll be a big part of a potential Chelsea transformation next year.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Watching the Europa League in Spanish is just as entertaining as watching the Champions League in English. 

After stalling in the first half, Chelsea managed to turn up the heat and win 3-0 over Malmö FF (5-1 on aggregate) to move on in the UEFA Europa League.

Five yellow cards were handed out before the first goal was scored, four of them being given to Malmö players.

Arsenal struggled Thursday evening in Barysaw, Belarus. Losing 1-0 to BATE Borisov and failing to grab an all-important away goal could come back to bite the Gunners in the second leg of the Europa Leaague Round of 32.

To make matters worse, Arsenal will have to play the second leg without Alexandre Lacazette.

Arsenal's last nine away games across all competitions:

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