Between August 12 and 23 in Lisbon, Portugal, Paris Saint-Germain changed the narrative surrounding the club by advancing to the Champions League final and performing admirably against Bayern Munich.
In the space of four days coinciding with the club’s start to the 2020-21 season, you could say that PSG has reverted to an even lesser version of its old self.
Shortly before the United States entered World War II and sports were put on the back burner, directors and executives were looking for the next big revenue-generating events.
In 1941 — years before the New York Knicks were even founded — Madison Square Garden decided that hosting indoor soccer was a worthwhile adventure, and the promoters weren’t wrong with nearly 10,000 paying customers showing up to watch teams from the American Soccer League literally do battle.
With Lionel Messi's aborted bid to leave Barcelona still raw, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu may be counting his days after a campaign group announced they were racking up signatures in a bid to force a vote of no-confidence in him.
LaLiga on Sunday released a statement saying Lionel Messi's Barcelona contract was still valid, days after his shock announcement that he wants to leave the club and hours after he failed to attend a pre-season medical.
Messi's failure to show for his medical underlined the 33-year-old's determination to leave the club he has been with throughout his career.
Paris police were attacked, shops in the French capital were vandalized and 158 people were arrested after Paris Saint-Germain's loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, the interior minister and police said on Monday.
"The savagery of certain delinquents from last night: 16 members of the police forces injured, 12 shops attacked, around 15 cars vandalized," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter.
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen took on Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer in a public spat last year over the Germany goalkeeper's jersey and the confrontation will be played out on the pitch in Friday's Champions League quarterfinal.
Only Lionel Messi can rival Ter Stegen, 28, for the title of Barça's most decisive player in the last few seasons, but his heroics for his club have not been enough to overhaul Neuer, 34, on the international stage.
When Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte faces the cameras after a match, it is a case of lighting the blue touch paper and standing well back.
In his first season at Inter, the 51-year-old former Juventus, Italy and Chelsea coach has railed against his own club's "poor planning" and an "insane" fixture list, and even blamed one poor performance on the opposition playing the wrong kind of football.
His latest outburst, however, after a 2-0 win at Atalanta on Saturday that clinched second place for Inter in Serie A, has led to all sorts of intrigue.
Apart from Zinedine Zidane’s masterful headbutt on Marco Materazzi, the most infamous foul in 21st century World Cup finals is certainly Nigel de Jong’s hatchet man kung fu kick into the chest of Xabi Alonso.
It should’ve been a straight red — even referee Howard Webb admitted as much later — but it takes some cojones to effectively end the World Cup final after only 28 minutes.
USMNT defender Matt Miazga is unable to stray away from controversy. Notable Miazga moments include the American being fined for grabbing another player’s groin and the time he made fun of Diego Lainez’s height during a friendly. The latest Miazga incident is getting suspended for Reading’s next three matches after throwing punches against Derby County.
Luton Town arrived at Swansea City's Liberty Stadium on Saturday embroiled in a relegation battle, but the team became involved in a different kind of fight on the pitch. Luton striker James Collins put the Championship strugglers ahead 1-0 with a 72nd minute header, but the real action kicked off shortly after, following a series of increasingly harsh tackles:
This... well, it escalates. Put it that way. pic.twitter.com/NVuunTqYq9