Phenoms

With a home match to come against Levante on Saturday followed by next Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal first leg against Liverpool, Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde elected to begin today’s away match versus Alavés with Lionel Messi on the bench.

No matter.

Before Messi entered the match in the 61st minute, goals from Carles Aleñá and Luis Suárez had already put Barça on the verge of a second straight LaLiga title. If Atlético Madrid loses to Valencia tomorrow, the crown belongs to Barcelona. Regardless, there’s no way in hell Barça loses it now.

During Monday’s Premier League matchup with Burnley, Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi was subbed off after an apparent foot injury in the first half. The 18-year-old phenom had to be helped off the field in the 42nd minute and was replaced by Pedro. Chelsea went on to draw 2-2 with Burnley as both teams went scoreless in the second half after a frantic opening 45 minutes.

After the game, Chelsea fans' worst fears were confirmed as the attacker said his Achilles was ruptured in a tweet.

After two consecutive defeats turned the narrative surrounding PSG into the sort of existential crisis that could only be penned by compatriot Jean-Paul Sartre, Kylian Mbappé’s 55-minute hat trick — taking him to 30 goals on the year and just three behind Lionel Messi in the race for the European Golden Shoe — propelled the club to a sixth Ligue 1 title in seven seasons.  

When you’ve recently churned out talent like Marco Reus, Mario Götze and Christian Pulisic, people get a bit more interested in the next generation of young lads at the Hohenbuschei training ground in the quiet Dortmund suburb of Brackel.

The adventures of 19-year-old Benfica phenom João Félix continue. Days after becoming the youngest-ever scorer of a hat trick in the Europa League, Félix scored his 11th goal of the Primeira Liga season in Benfica’s 4-2 victory over Setúbal. 

The kid’s been dubbed “the next Cristiano Ronaldo” because he comes from Portugal, does a lot of goals and that’s a really good moniker to drive clicks, but he really doesn’t play like Ronaldo. He’s probably more akin to “the next Kaká.”

After denying itself the league title last week following a 2-2 draw with Strasbourg, PSG traveled to second place Lille today with another shot at securing the crown with a victory or draw. They would achieve neither result, ultimately playing for 49 minutes down a man following Juan Bernat’s red card and losing 5-1. 

Remember the name: Matheus Cunha. 

The 19-year-old Brazilian arrived at RB Leipzig from FC Sion last June for $17.1 million, but he’s been brought along slowly in the Bundesliga with 15 of his 21 appearances coming from off the bench. 

However, on Saturday, Cunha scored his second league goal of the season, and my word. The Brazil U-20 forward pulled off a ridiculous Zidane turn to eliminate two Bayer Leverkusen defenders before seamlessly transitioning into a delicate chip over Lukáš Hrádecký.  

Hop into The18 time machine and travel back to Jan. 23, 2017, to see “Borussia Dortmund Beat Real Madrid To The Signing Of 17-Year-Old Swedish Phenom” Alexander Isak. After breaking through with AIK and scoring 10 goals during his debut Allsvenskan season, “the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic” made further waves by becoming Sweden’s youngest-ever international goalscorer. 

The 2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship, which doubles as qualification for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil, is fast approaching. Over the course of 16 days in Bradenton, Florida, 20 teams will battle for the four World Cup spots, and Mexico will look to win its fourth straight title at this level.

El Tri defeated the U.S. in the last final back in 2017. That match featured the likes of Jairo Torres and Roberto de la Rosa for Mexico while the U.S. called on Josh Sargent and Tim Weah.