Arsenal has advised its players, who were to resume training on Tuesday, to stay at home even though they completed their 14-day isolation period after manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for the coronavirus. Arteta's positive test forced the team to go into self-isolation, while the Premier League has suspended the soccer season until April 30.
Arsene Wenger watched on sullenly from his seat on the bench as the final whistle blew. Having entered the game against Chelsea just four points behind their league-leading opponents, the Gunners were ripped to shreds by Jose Mourinho's side in a lopsided 6-0 defeat. Wenger could not have imagined his 1,000th match in charge of Arsenal would play out like this.
American Pellegrino Matarazzo has enjoyed an excellent start to his career as a head coach, taking 13 points from a possible 15 while taking VfB Stuttgart up to second place in the table.
Matarazzo, appointed in December to take over for Tim Walter, got off to a winning start with the Swabians as his side rolled over FC Heidenheim, 3-0. VfB has gone from strength to strength since then, winning three of the next four in the 2. Bundesliga. Matarazzo's only loss at the helm so far came in the narrow 2-1 defeat to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal.
Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri is struggling to impose his style of play on the Turin side and his frustration came out into the open again after a poor performance in their Champions League defeat to Olympique Lyonnais on Wednesday.
In comments that could be viewed as refreshingly honest or a risky public criticism of his players, the chain-smoking 61-year-old said that his team were struggling to grasp the concept of passing the ball around quickly — a style dubbed "Sarri-ball" by his admirers.
There’s a graphic doing the rounds that shows the 10 players with the most combined goals and assists in Europe’s top five leagues since August 2017. Lionel Messi is obviously miles ahead in the top spot, Luis Suárez is sixth and Neymar — despite only appearing in 52 games over that period — comes in 10th.
It was only three seasons ago, but MSN seems a lifetime away. With a collection of arguably the world’s best No. 9, No. 10 and winger, there were endless variants to the ways in which Barcelona could go about killing you.
In a game that could prove crucial in the fight for European qualification, Real Sociedad plays host to Valencia on Saturday. The Basque side currently sits in eighth place, just one point behind Valencia in seventh. If other results go favorably, a win could see either team break into the top four. Valencia is only behind rival Villareal on goal difference while Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, fourth and fifth in the table, respectively, are level on 40 points, two points ahead.
Jesse Marsch's RB Salzburg entered its Europa League Round of 32 first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt looking to rebound from a loss against LASK this past weekend which cost Salzburg first place in the Austrian Bundesliga. Frankfurt came into the game having won four of its last six games, most recently putting five goals past Augsburg. Only Bayern Munich has racked up more points than Frankfurt since the Bundesliga's winter break.
Argentine legend Diego Maradona is fondly remembered for his amazing goals and off-the-wall personality. Sadly, Maradona’s legacy also includes a notorious history of drug use, and while managing his struggling club Gimnasia in a recent Primera División match, Maradona was handed a suspicious small bag.
The coaching staff was then quick to block the view of the camera.
In terms of a 1-0 scoreline, there’s no greater beatdown than the one RB Leipzig just administered to Tottenham in London on Wednesday. The difference on the scoreboard was Timo Werner’s 58th-minute penalty, but the difference on the pitch was an incredible gulf in tempo, build-up play and variation in attack.