Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has questioned whether their smaller rivals Atalanta should have a right to play in the Champions League, saying they lack international history. His comments drew a blunt response from the mayor of Atalanta's home town Bergamo who said the team had earned their place with "sweat and imagination."
It was a weekend the Bundesliga would like to forget. Multiple banners from supporters caused games to stop, and now a group of Japanese fans is being issued an apology after security removed them from RB Leipzig's stadium over fears of coronavirus.
One of the Japanese fans who was removed tweeted about the events that took place. The tweet has since been deleted but read:
As Major League Soccer launched a milestone 25th season on Saturday, the mood was not one of reflection and cautious optimism but bold even outrageous predictions of a future empire.
Not content to eventually become one of the most successful leagues in North America, MLS has set its sights on supplanting the UK's Premier League and Spain's LaLiga as the world's top soccer product by the time it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri is struggling to impose his style of play on the Turin side and his frustration came out into the open again after a poor performance in their Champions League defeat to Olympique Lyonnais on Wednesday.
In comments that could be viewed as refreshingly honest or a risky public criticism of his players, the chain-smoking 61-year-old said that his team were struggling to grasp the concept of passing the ball around quickly — a style dubbed "Sarri-ball" by his admirers.
No one did a personal redemption story out on the pitch quite like David Beckham. He did it during his final season at Real Madrid, when he went from being dropped by Fabio Capello to proving instrumental in the club’s dramatic LaLiga triumph. He did it with the LA Galaxy when shifting his reputation from disinterred Hollywood celebrity to two-time MLS Cup champion.
On Sunday night, following the racist abuse he suffered during Porto's 2-1 victory over Vitoria, Porto forward Moussa Marega took to social media and responded to the Vitoria fans who forced him to walk off the pitch in protest in the 72nd minute.
Marega wrote: “I would just like to tell these idiots who come to the stadium to make racist chants …. go fuck yourself. And I also thank the referees for not defending me and for giving me a yellow card because I defend my skin colour. I hope I never meet you on a football field again! YOU ARE A SHAME!!!!”
Lionel Messi is angry. That’s not conjecture, that’s not rumor, that’s not juice being peddled by MARCA to aid Real Madrid’s LaLiga quest. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner is irate.
For the second time this season, PSG manager Thomas Tuchel had to deal with drama after a Kylian Mbappé substitution — this time during his team’s 5-0 victory against Montpellier on Saturday.
Sometimes you just really don’t want to be substituted out of a match. The level of soccer doesn’t matter — whether it’s youth, college or professional — but the best thing to do is wish your oncoming teammate success and then get cozy on the bench. But Mbappé seems to have his own style.
Shrewsbury Town has created one of the biggest talking points in Liverpool’s seemingly golden season. The Reds were handed a surprise 2-2 draw in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday. Now they will have to partake in a replay, but it seems Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp isn’t too interested in the FA Cup.
On Monday, it was revealed that Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley would undergo surgery following a severe ankle injury suffered during the 2019 MLS Cup loss to the Seattle Sounders. Given the fact that it’d been 71 days since the final and with the club now reporting for preseason, news of Bradley being sidelined for approximately four months was met with confused anger throughout Toronto.