Inspiring

Ajax’s 13-0 thrashing of VVV Venlo on Saturday was the big story from the Eredivisie over the weekend, but the demolition wasn’t the only incredible bit of action to take place in the Dutch league.

Manchester United produced its fair share of footballing legends during Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure in the north west of England, but few can lay claim to Ryan Giggs' idyllic exit in 2014.

(Paul Scholes did lift the Premier League trophy after his final United match, but after he was subbed on, United allowed West Brom to overcome a three-goal deficit and salvage a draw — not exactly flawless).

The first Clásico of the 2020-21 season comes thundering into our living rooms on Saturday as Lionel Messi — perhaps for the final time — welcomes Real Madrid to the Camp Nou at 10 a.m. ET on beIN SPORTS. So how about an El Clásico prediction before then?

Honestly, I’d rather not.

There are so many subtle, rarely magnified ways in which professional footballers are infinitely better than the rest of us. 

There’s the level of physical fitness that comes with being a professional athlete, amounting to Herculean feats of stamina and mental wherewithal that allow for essentially the same level of play in the first minute as in the 90th, and then there’s the freakish ability to complete a task in one touch whereas it’d take the rest of us five. 

Arjen Robben's trademark is probably his lethal left-footed finishes — most notably the curling far-post strikes he's converted so many times after cutting in from the right wing. But the former Bayern Munich winger might become renowned in the footballing world for his method of transportation to first team matches.

The Dutch legend arrived at FC Groningen's Eredivisie match against FC Utrecht on Sunday via a pair of wheels that many footballers are unaccustomed to.