Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben is known for one thing: cutting inside from the right wing and shooting with his left foot. That is his only move. He does not need any other moves because the one move he does have is wildly effective. However, Robben seems to think he does other things besides cut inside from the right and shoot with his left. He is wrong.
Fiorentina manager Paulo Sousa has a problem. Paulo Sousa isn’t very good at his job. What’s more, people are starting to notice. For a while now, Fiorentina fans have been trying to tell anyone who will listen that the Portuguese manager is performing well below expectations. After two high profile capitulations in the space of a week, Sousa’s problem is now clear for all to see. Paulo Sousa isn’t very good at his job.
The offseason purchases of Mirlalem Pjanic from Roma (€32 million) and Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli (€75.3 million) haven’t debilitated the selling clubs, but they have had the desired effect for Juventus. Higuain has scored 19 goals, tied with Edin Dzeko for the most in the league, and no Juventus player has more assists than Pjanic.
Even more importantly, Napoli, the team that ran them closest last season, will come short of last season’s total of 82 points while Juventus look poised to surpass their own total of 91. There’s no surer gauge of the impact of that transfer.
Mario Gotze, the 24-year-old Borussia Dortmund attacker who is best known for scoring the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final, has been sidelined “for the time being” with “metabolic disturbances” according to a statement from his club.
Crystal Palace fans thought they were being tricky when they spray-painted the bus that had carried Middlesbrough to their match with Palace on Saturday. The fans sprayed "Crystal Palace FC" on the bus to show Middlesbrough who exactly they were dealing with. What a hilarious prank! One problem: it was Crystal Palace's bus.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s quest to win trophies for Manchester United is being realized with stunning proficiency. After scoring late for Man United in their FA Community Shield victory over Leicester City to mark his Red Devil Wembley debut, Zlatan has continued his act by scoring twice, including an 87th minute winner, to lift United over Southampton in the EFL Cup final, 3-2.
Barcelona climbed to the top of the La Liga table (at least until Real Madrid play Villarreal later today) after defeating fierce rivals Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon, 2-1.
Rafinha opened the scoring for Barca in the 64th minute with a goal that probably took a couple of years off Diego Simeone’s life.
Sunday’s match between Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven was a meeting of first and third in the Dutch Eredivisie table. With the scores level at 1-1 in the 82nd minute, the big winner would be second place Ajax. But Feyenoord's Jan-Arie van der Heijden was credited with a winner in one of the most important and ridiculous demonstrations of goal-line technology.
It began with an attempt at Zidane-esque control and ended with a display of marksmanship that sends an entire section of the crowd surging towards the pitch. As much as we love to dissect football, to break the pitch into a systematic property where order reigns, it’s a beautiful sport because it forever remains incalculable.
Bayern Munich announced the signing of 16-year-old Luxembourd youth midfielder Ryan Johansson to a long-term contract that is set to begin this upcoming summer.
Before his signing with Bayern Munich, Johansson was playing in France, representing the FC Metz U-17 squad.