Highlights

Juve's Dani Alves Eyes Fourth Champions League Title After Monaco Master Class

The semifinals of the Champions League returned to Monaco’s Stade Louis II for the first time since 2004, and the 18,000+ in attendance would’ve surely expected their side to add to the 16 home Champions League goals they’d already witnessed since the beginning of their campaign.

But a Juventus side that had only given up two goals in this competition, and none throughout the knockout rounds, proved to be an entirely different challenge for Monaco’s goal-crazy attackers.

37-Year-Old Ronaldinho Can Still Contort The Football Like A Warlock

FC Barcelona brought their brand to Beirut, Lebanon alongside Real Madrid, and Ronaldinho, wearing the blaugrana jersey for the first time since 2008, made sure that the club left that country well and truly globalized by the might of the Barca name.

Thousands of fans packed the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium to watch the likes of Ludovic Giuly, Simao Sabrosa, Gianluca Zambrotta, Edgar Davids, Roberto Carlos and Fernando Morientes try to overcome their aging bodies, but the star of the show was the Brazilian maestro.

Ronaldo’s Hat-Trick Puts Real Madrid On The Cusp Of Champions League Final

For all of Real Madrid’s dominance in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal with Atletico Madrid, it looked as though Atleti would escape to the Vicente Calderon with only a one-goal deficit. But then Cristiano Ronaldo happened. And then again. 

Ronaldo scored goals number 101, 102 and 103 to extend his all time record in the Champions League, and Atletico’s inability to grab an away goal, or to really trouble Real for that matter, makes the possibility of a comeback next Wednesday seem extremely farfetched. 

Christian Atsu’s ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Free Kick Technique Is A Game Changer

Christian Atsu is one of the horde of 30-something Chelsea players out on loan for all eternity. After impressing at Portugal’s Rio Ave, Chelsea shelled out £3.5 million for the 21-year-old Ghanaian winger and immediately loaned him to the extremely Chelsea-friendly confines of Vitesse Arnhem.

He played well there, but not well enough to make Pedro or Willian fear for their Chelsea careers. So off Atsu went, making loan stops at Everton, Bournemouth and Malaga while making headlines at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations by scoring this banger.

Marta’s Best Goal Consisted Of Beating Five Players And Finishing With A Rabona

This is probably a somewhat contentious decision given that Marta, the five-time FIFA World Player of the Year, has scored over 100 goals for Brazil and over 300 in her club career, but personally, I think this is Marta’s finest hour.

She's had two short stints with Santos in Sao Paulo, and Marta scored this ridiculous solo goal during her time there. It’s extravagantly Brazilian.

Emre Can Just Scored The Premier League Goal Of The Season

Emre Can, Liverpool's roving German midfield destroyer, is more than meets the eye, like a transformer. On the surface, he's a big, athletic, crunching central midfielder. When you look a little closer, though, he can do this:

You Gotta Watch Camilo Sanvezzo Score From Halfway

Fans of MLS will remember Camilo Sanvezzo from his time with the Vancouver Whitecaps, during which he did this:

That goal was nominated for the Puskas Award, but Sanvezzo, now with Queretaro in Liga MX, has quite possibly outdone himself.

Mario Balotelli Humiliates PSG Like It's Barcelona All Over Again

Mario Balotelli hasn’t appeared as often as he would’ve liked for Nice this season due to three red cards and a smattering of various injuries, but when he has played he’s been unplayable.

Super Mario made it 14 goals in only 18 Ligue 1 starts as Nice stomped Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, effectively handing the league title to Monaco.

 

44-Year-Old Pachuca Goalkeeper Oscar Perez Scored An Amazing Last-Minute Goal This Weekend

You don't see many 5'8" goalkeepers in soccer. You don't see many 44-year-olds anywhere but the tactical area. You definitely don't see 5'8", 44-year-old goalkeepers doing things like this:

Want To Play A Little More Like Lionel Messi? Easy, Just Idolize His Idol

We are, as the great philosopher put it, standing on the shoulders of giants. In Argentina there was a time when no footballer could hold a candle to Guillermo Stabile, who scored eight goals at the 1930 World Cup. But he was followed and surpassed by Luis Artime, a forward who ended his career with a strike rate of 0.96 goals per game for Argentina.

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