Ladies and Gentleman, if you had any doubt over why Wes Hoolahan is dubbed the "Irish Messi," please direct your attention to this video of him opening the scoring against Rotherham United.
Oof. Where do we begin?
Southampton legend Francis Benali finished his epic race for charity by running a lap of honor around Saint Mary's stadium during Southampton's match against Burnley on Sunday.
After over three weeks on the sidelines due to a groin injury, Lionel Messi made a triumphant return to football by scoring Barcelona’s fourth in their 4-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna. The assist was fantastically provided by Neymar and the finish from Messi was emphatic.
It must’ve been an excruciating break from playing for Messi, watching Barcelona lose to Celta Vigo and then Argentina flounder in World Cup qualifying.
Marco Fabian’s Bundesliga season went from good to great on Saturday after notching a goal and playing brilliantly throughout the match against Bayern Munich.
The Mexican international was unfortunate not to have two goals on the day after seeing one of his shots strike the inside of the post. However, his 78th minute equalizer earned Eintracht Frankfurt an unlikely point against Bayern Munich.
Bob Bradley thinks he’s one of the world’s best managers. So we didn’t expect him to be intimidated by his surroundings when he faced off against Arsène Wenger and Arsenal at the Emirates in his first Premier League match. In the end, Swansea were unlucky not to get a positive result against the Gunners.
It's no secret that Serie A’s UEFA coefficient has been in decline for over 15 years. The UEFA coefficient, used to determine how many teams from each domestic league are entered into competitions such as the Champions League and Europa League, is based on the European success of a club within the last five years.
Wayne Rooney’s struggles for club and country need no introduction. The perhaps striker, sometimes no. 10 and definitely-not-but-let’s-give-it-a-try midfielder is trying to prolong his days as a soccer boy extraordinaire, but it’s just not coming off at 30 years of age.
His movement looks tired, his touch a bit lumpy and his strengths have been boiled down to a combination of strong concentration levels and nice little layoffs.
Sir Alex Ferguson famously quipped before the 2009 Champions League Final that Barcelona "get you on that carousel and they make you dizzy with their passing.” The rhythm and tempo of their passing makes opponents feel as though they’re chasing ghosts around the pitch.
Liverpool has followed the examples of Tottenham and Southampton by enforcing a wage cap of £40,000-per-year on 17-year-old youth professionals according to a report by the Telegraph.
The policy aims to combat the "too much, too young" culture in the Premier League that has seen financial incentives for youth products rise to ridiculous proportions.
Right now, the Italian national side does not have an identity. On paper, drawing a match with Spain and winning against Macedonia might seem perfectly acceptable, but those who watched the games will know that there’s trouble afoot.
Spain should have won by a comfortable margin but consistently shot themselves in the foot when it came to actually putting the ball in the net. Italy were bad and deserved to lose.