Quotes

You know it’s serious when Antoine Griezmann shows up for his own special segment on Movistar+. Most infamously, Griezmann appeared on the network back in the summer of 2018 to announce — in the face of interest from Barcelona — that he was staying at Atlético Madrid with the resounding cry of “My fans, my team, my HOME.”

One summer later Griezmann was on his way to the Camp Nou after Barça met his $142 million release clause, but Monday’s appearance on Movistar+ has to do with what’s transpired since that fractious move. 

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has joined other managers in lashing out at the packed European football calendar after deciding to rest Lionel Messi for Tuesday's Champions League trip to Dynamo Kyiv.

Barca lost Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto to serious injuries in Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in LaLiga, leaving them with only three defenders in the first team squad for the trip to Ukraine.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he is hurt by Mesut Özil's situation at the Premier League club but is resigned to facing questions about the German midfielder after every defeat. Özil, 32, who is under contract with Arsenal until June 2021 earns a reported $452,830 per week, but has not played for Arteta’s side this season after being left out of the 25-man Premier League squad.

The playmaker, who last played for Arsenal in March, was also left out of their Europa League squad, leaving him only eligible for Under-23 games. 

A frustrated Lionel Messi said he is tired of being blamed for problems at Barcelona after he was accused by Antoine Griezmann's former agent of making life difficult for the French striker at the LaLiga club.

Former Iran striker Ali Daei has said he would be honored to see Cristiano Ronaldo break his record for the most goals in international soccer as the Portugal forward moves closer to his tally of 109.

Ronaldo, the only other centurion in the men's international arena, has scored 102 goals in 168 appearances since his debut in 2003.

Atlético Madrid striker Luis Suárez has talked up his side's LaLiga title chances ahead of next week's showdown against former club Barcelona, saying his side's strong start to the campaign could give them an edge.

Atlético have won five of their first seven games and are the only unbeaten side in the top flight, while champions Real Madrid and Barça have already lost two games each. Real Sociedad are top of the standings with 20 points while Atlético are third on 17 but have two games in hand. Real Madrid are fourth, while Barça are eighth.

Manchester United may not have the resources that some of their Premier League rivals do but the fallen giants of English soccer still possess the mentality to end their title drought in the competition, midfielder Bruno Fernandes said.

The rise of Sergiño Dest has been meteoric. After all, it’s only been 459 days since he made his league debut with Ajax and 380 since he committed his international future to the USMNT. 

But this is a 20-year-old who forced his way into the starting 11 of a title-winning Ajax side before convincing Barcelona to part with $25 million. And early returns in Catalonia have been good — Dest was arguably Barça’s best player in El Clásico. 

In all honesty, we’ve only just begun to see the torrential number of ways in which COVID-19 can disrupt football in a purely sporting sense. 

Major League Soccer’s regular season has been severely disrupted by the pandemic with a logjam of postponed matches that can no longer be completed before the start of the playoffs, forcing qualification to be determined on a points-per-game basis rather than the final standings. 

After a week in which Karim Benzema's damning opinion of strike partner Vinícius Júnior was unwittingly revealed, Real Madrid's forwards will be hoping to present a united front when they host Huesca in LaLiga on Saturday.