Prediction

Investment banks are big into making predictions — by their very nature they have to be good at it. But the UBS World Cup predictions might need a bit more work. The company gave Italy a 1.6 percent chance to win the World Cup, even though the Azzurri aren’t even in the tournament. 

UBS, which stands for you don’t really need to know for the sake of this article, is an investment bank based out of Switzerland. They recently employed 18 analysts and editors and ran computer simulations to predict the most likely winner of the 2018 World Cup. 

Every four years the World Cup crowns a new champion. But the tournament itself isn’t just about who is left standing at the end; it’s about the fans, the historic meetings of rivals, the David vs. Goliath matchups, the World Cup upsets.

While the globe gathers every four years to see who the winner is, one of the best parts of any tournament is the upset — the unexpected favorite falling to an unlikely underdog. World Cup upsets are no different.

It’s go time. The 2018 Clausura championship begins Thursday, May 17, with Santos Laguna hosting Toluca at Estadio Corona in Torreon. That match is slated to begin at 9 p.m. ET on Univision. The return leg in Toluca kicks off at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 20. In the end, we’ll see if Toluca can capture its 11th title — and first since 2010 — or if Santos can draw level with Pachuca and Tigres on six.

Oh how things change, oh how things stay the same. The Spanish national team enters this year’s World Cup in Russia in a rather strange state. World champions in 2010 and European champions in 2008 and 2012, Spain are sort of favorites for this year’s tournament, as they’re always expected to do well.

In order to advance to the Champions League final, Bayern Munich will have to make history at the Bernabeu. The advantage of hosting the second leg is made most apparent by looking at the record of teams who have needed a comeback after dropping the first leg at home. 

Since the 2003-04 season, 18 teams have trailed heading into a Champions League quarterfinal or semifinal second leg on the road. None of those teams have advanced.

How quickly can a man go from hero to villain?

For Kalidou Koulibaly, it was less than ten minutes of actual game time. After scoring the winning goal against Juventus in the dying minutes, reviving Napoli’s floundering title challenge, he was sent off in the first five minutes of the next game away to Fiorentina, squandering any resurgent hopes by setting the scene for a 3-0 thrashing by the home side.