Goalkeepers

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.

All Barcelona had to do was get one. One away goal and it would all be over for Liverpool. One simple goal from the team with the greatest goal scorer of this era, perhaps of all time.

But Alisson wouldn’t let it happen. 

What a difference a goalkeeper makes.

Last year, Liverpool’s Champions League run was ended by poor goalkeeping, Loris Karius undoing all the good work done by Jurgen Klopp’s side against Real Madrid. 

Iker Casillas, the World Cup-winning goalkeeper with Spain and three-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, suffered a suspected heart attack during a morning training session with Porto on Wednesday. 

Casillas, 37, was taken to a local hospital in Porto and is in stable condition and “out of danger.”

After what looked like a promising rebound year for Manchester United plummeted, the club will look into Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the offseason, according to rumors.

Oblak’s recent contract extension has the goalkeeper inked with the Spanish club until 2023 with a €120 million buyout.

The stumble for fourth place in the Premier League continued apace today with Arsenal getting thrashed 3-0 by Leicester City before Manchester United and Chelsea settled for a share of the spoils at Old Trafford following a 1-1 draw.

Coming into the match on the back of three straight defeats, United started strongly with both Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford looking extremely sharp in attack. The Red Devils’ deserved opener arrived in the 11th minute with the aforementioned Lukaku playing a big role.

The seventh season of NWSL play kicked off on Saturday, and the 2019 campaign will attract more attention than ever since it falls in a World Cup year. With 52 days to go until the main event in France, international players remain with their club sides for the time being. 

However, that’ll soon change, and USWNT call-ups will expect to miss around two months of the season (the Send-Off Series begins on May 12 vs. South Africa and the World Cup final takes place on July 7), although the NWSL will break for group stage play.

It was quite the evening for Serie A’s Atalanta as it hosted visitors Empoli at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in Bergamo. The sixth place side has been impressive in recent seasons, putting on good performances in the Europa League and doing well in Serie A.

The odds of Atalanta beating Empoli were very high as the visitors sat 18th, in the relegation zone. What looked like quite a routine match was completely turned on its head. No, Empoli did not beat Atalanta with a smash and grab, but Atalanta did not beat Empoli either.

Watford and Ben Foster didn’t have their best day at home versus Arsenal on Monday. The Gunners had not kept a clean sheet away from home this season, and the Hornets likely felt that a good result was possible in the match. Unfortunately for Watford, that was not the case.

Watford started the match well, putting Arsenal under pressure and having a few chances on goal. Arsenal didn’t provide very much going forward and needed a stroke of luck to get on the scoresheet early. Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster did Arsenal a huge favor.

Without having ever made the jump to MLS, 31-year-old Colombian striker José Angulo has been a constant source of goals in the USL Championship over the years, including a league MVP and Golden Boot-winning campaign back in 2013. 

Angulo has bounced around the American lower divisions for 10 years now, but he’s currently on the books at Hartford Athletic, a club enjoyed its inaugural season in the USL. 

Hartford has suffered six defeats in its first six matches, but Angulo registered his first goal for the club yesterday during a 3-1 loss to the Pittsburg Riverhounds. 

At the 1970 World Cup, Gordon Banks made what is often considered to be the greatest save of all time, denying a header from Pelé that seemed destined for the goal. Nearly 50 years later, this David de Gea save vs West Ham looks remarkably similar — and was, perhaps, more important.

Gordon Banks was a legendary goalkeeper for England and Stoke City, winning the World Cup in 1966. Four years later, he made what British-centric football fans view as the greatest save ever: