Italy

Weston McKennie, the 22-year-old Texan, has a lot of egos to deal with while on loan at Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo obviously looms large in any locker room, but you know folks like Álvaro Morata, Paulo Dybala, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey and Juan Cuadrado want to see their share of the ball. Remarkably, McKennie aided two of the largest personalities on the squad without even touching the ball. And yes, we’re calling it a Weston McKennie assist, because America god damnit.

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo scored three minutes into his return following a COVID-19 infection and then added a penalty to help the Serie A champions to get a 4-1 win at Spezia on Sunday.

The 35-year-old, out of action for nearly three weeks after testing positive for the virus, came on in the 56th minute and almost immediately put Juventus 2-1 ahead. Adrien Rabiot added a third before Ronaldo scored with a Panenka-style penalty in the 76th minute to complete their win.

"SIIIIIIIUUUU"

The irrepressible Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored an acrobatic late goal, taking his league tally to seven this season, to give Serie A leaders AC Milan a hard-fought 2-1 win at Udinese on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic, with his back to goal, hooked the ball into the net with an overhead kick in the 83rd minute despite not making proper contact after Sebastien De Maio had sliced an attempted clearance high into the air from Ante Rebic's cross.

Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from a COVID-19 infection, the Serie A club said on Friday.

. @Cristiano recovers from Covid-19https://t.co/4etecyAw0O pic.twitter.com/YPZSm0My8A

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) October 30, 2020

Lionel Messi has yet to score from open play this season, his only three goals coming from the penalty spot. At times his finishing makes it appear as though he could care less about scoring for the club that strong-armed him into staying in Barcelona colors this year.

But the Argentine can still strike the ball like few who have ever played the game. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the Juventus squad for the Champions League match at home to Barcelona later on Wednesday, two weeks after first testing positive for COVID-19.

The Portuguese had been hoping to return in time for Wednesday's match and, although there was no official comment on his condition, he was not included in the squad announced by Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo. Reports on Tuesday suggested Ronaldo tested positive for Covid again this week.

It’s been a dream start to the campaign for Napoli after a disappointing seventh-place finish last season (apart from the ludicrous fallout of the abandoned Juventus match), and a key to the club’s revival has been the renaissance of Hirving “Chucky” Lozano.

AC Milan and AS Roma drew 3-3 at the San Siro on Monday in a ridiculous match that included a brace for Zlatan Ibrahimović and a late Marash Kumbulla equalizer that only arrived after the 39-year-old Swede failed to clear a corner.

109 seconds into the match, Ibrahimović turned Rafael Leão’s beautiful cross beyond Antonio Mirante for an early lead. 

Rafael Leão to Zlatan Ibrahimovic!

Ibra is now joint-top scorer in Serie A pic.twitter.com/FwzDaB7VmJ

Juventus should not require a slap to wake up even if the atmosphere at grounds is soporific, coach Andrea Pirlo said after the Serie A champions stumbled to a 1-1 draw against Verona on Sunday.

Pirlo said he could understand players might be influenced by appearing in near-empty stadiums during the COVID-19 pandemic but added that it was something they would have to adapt to.

Lorenzo Insigne and his younger brother Roberto scored for opposing sides on Sunday as Napoli came from behind to win 2-1 away to promoted Benevento in Serie A.

Roberto Insigne, the younger of the two, stunned Napoli by scoring his first Serie A goal at the age of 26 before Lorenzo leveled on the hour and substitute Andrea Petagna won the game for the visitors who moved into second place.