Any thoughts Wayne Rooney had of a happy return to Manchester were ritually sacrificed by being set on fire and danced around by his former teammates.
To wit:
Antonio Valencia, who spent eight seasons as Rooney's teammate in red, welcomed his former captain back by thundering a volley past Jordan Pickford in the fourth minute.
Think of a meteor that unexpectedly appears in sight. It moves at remarkable speed through the atmosphere, in flames, dazzling the beholder. Harry Kane is such a force of nature. Not only that, he is also a romantic.
After his stunning brace against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night, everybody is talking about (and wishing they could sign) Harry Kane.
But what are the keys to the young striker’s success?
Last year Chelsea went through the entire campaign without drawing a single red card on the way to the Premier League title. This year Antonio Conte’s side is taking a decidedly different approach. Chelsea has raced to an early lead in the race for most red cards in the Premier League.
Barcelona continue to set the pace at the top of La Liga following a spirited, come from behind victory at Getafe on Saturday. A wonder goal from Gaku Shibasaki gave Azulones a shock lead, but second half strikes from Denis Suarez and Paulinho maintained Barcelona’s perfect start to the season after four matches.
Grumblings of an early crisis on Tyneside appear to have been hugely premature on the back of another Newcastle United victory on Saturday, their third straight in the Premier League. With a 2-1 win against Stoke City, Newcastle climbed into the Champions League places and confirmed their finest start to life in England’s top division in six years.
Sparta Rotterdam goalkeeper Roy Kortsmit had to work a bit of overtime on Friday night. After a questionable penalty was awarded to AZ Alkmaar, Kortsmit saved it not once but twice.
Although it’s easy to see why the referee called for a foul in the box, slow-motion replay shows Sparta defender Sheral Floranus poked the ball away before taking down Thomas Ouwejan.
As a manager the last half-decade, Antonio Conte has turned pretty much everything he touches to gold. He won three straight Serie A titles with Juventus, led Italy to a 14-4-7 record over two years and won the Premier League in his first season in charge of Chelsea.
His secret? Big balls.
A recent training video released by Chelsea shows first-team players working on their, uh, let’s go with agility, by training with large exercise balls.
Isco, the best player in the world on current form according to The18's Connor Fleming, has agreed to a new contract at Real Madrid that runs through the 2021-2022 season.
Here's Real Madrid's official statement:
There’s no fighting the feeling that the Champions League group stage has become more and more of a nonevent over the past few years. Over the course of this week’s action, we watched Chelsea hammer Qarabag 6-0, PSG pummel Celtic 5-0 and Manchester City put four unanswered past Feyenoord. Even the marquee matchup between Barcelona and Juventus had the feeling of an International Champions Cup match being played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
Spartak Moscow fans are going to make the 2018 World Cup in Russia so much fun. Supporters of Narodnaya komanda (The People’s Team) traveled to Slovenia for the club’s Champions League match against NK Maribor on Wednesday and set the town on fire. Literally.
Spartak fans skirmished with police wearing riot gear before the match.