A stat crossed my timeline the other day showing that Lionel Messi has 35 goals from direct free kicks for Barcelona over the last decade. That in and of itself is impressive, but perhaps even more extraordinary is the fact that Messi's free kick total is higher than any other club in Europe's top five leagues during that span.
This Messi stat is insane pic.twitter.com/RZpCyf5tXl
Bayer Leverkusen forward Lucas Alario scored his third successive Bundesliga brace as his side came from behind to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-3 on Sunday in a game also featuring one of the best goals of the season.
Joshua Kimmich has developed into one of the most well-rounded players in the world. Essentially the Crystal Dunn of men’s soccer, he’s one of the best players in Europe regardless of what position he lines up at, from fullback to midfield. In part because I built my FIFA Ultimate Team around him, it was devastating to watch him leave the pitch in tears with an apparent injury in a 3-2 Bayern Munich victory on Saturday in Der Klassiker.
Hoffenheim's Ryan Sessegnon says he is disgusted at the racist abuse he has been subjected to online after the winger shared screenshots of the messages he received on social media.
"Honestly unbelievable. The craziest thing is I'm not even surprised anymore. Disgusting," Sessegnon, who joined the Bundesliga club on loan from Tottenham Hotspur last month, wrote on Instagram.
BERLIN — Champions Bayern Munich won 2-1 at Cologne on Saturday with goals from Thomas Mueller and Serge Gnabry returning them to the Bundesliga summit as coach Hansi Flick rested top scorer Robert Lewandowski.
The Bavarians, who are in action against Salzburg in the Champions League on Tuesday and also face Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga next week, are on 15 points, ahead of Dortmund on goal difference.
Those of us waking up Saturday morning hoping to see some more rampaging action from Christian Pulisic were disappointed when the American was pulled out of the Chelsea lineup late with an injury suffered during warmups. Fortunately, Josh Sargent filled the void admirably, scoring his first Bundesliga goal of the season with a well-taken strike.
Julian Nagelsmann and first-place RB Leipzig will head to North Rhine-Westphalia to take on Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday.
DORTMUND, Germany — Borussia Dortmund cantered to a 3-0 win over Schalke 04 in the Ruhr valley derby on Saturday to pile on the misery for their neighbours who have now gone 21 Bundesliga games without a win.
Schalke, one off the bottom of the table, managed to keep Dortmund at bay for 55 minutes until Manuel Akanji broke their resistance.
Erling Haaland, with his fifth league goal of the season, then added a second and Mats Hummels completed the scoring.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday he is not interested in a European Super League amid reports that some elite clubs were in talks to set up a breakaway competition with the backing of the global soccer body.
In an interview published by German-language newspaper Aargauer Zeitung and other regional Swiss media, Infantino said FIFA was focused on the success of the revamped Club World Cup, which will feature 24 teams and be held for the first time in China in 2022.
Schalke 04 on Sunday apologized to 15-year-old Borussia Dortmund player Youssoufa Moukoko after their fans hurled abuse at the teenager following his hat-trick in the Under-19 Ruhr derby.
"We can only apologize to Youssoufa Moukoko for what fans shouted during the Under-19 game," Schalke said on Twitter. "Putting emotions of a derby aside, we fully condemn such insults and reject them. We will take the necessary measures together with the Schalke fan department."