One year ago, Italian midfielder Gaetano Castrovilli was playing for Cremonese in Serie B with a transfer market value of just under $2 million. Fast forward to the present day and Inter is reportedly ready to offer Fiorentina $44 million for the 23-year-old.
With Neymar out suspended, Kylian Mbappé had two goals and an assist in Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-0 thrashing of Dijon on Saturday. But it’ll be the back-to-back Mbappé nutmegs that torment the nightmares of Dijon defenders for years to come.
Neymar sat out the match after picking up two yellow cards in the Feb. 23 match with Girondins de Bourdeaux. Marco Verratti was also out suspended while Thiago Silva, Ander Herrera, Colin Dagba and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting were all injured.
After a run of four straight draws, Arsenal finally got back in the win column with a 4-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates on Sunday. The two clubs somehow entered today’s match level on points, but the gulf in quality between the sides was evident from the off as Newcastle’s beleaguered attack managed only two shots on target while Arsenal dripped quality in the midfield and wide attacking areas.
Dani Ceballos and Mesut Özil looked like the most likely creators for the Gunners as the two combined for seven key passes, but Nicolas Pépé was in inspired form as well.
Liverpool marched on to yet another win, scoring late and great to eventually see off last-place Norwich City 1-0 in a match that was much harder than the Reds might have expected on Saturday at Carrow Road.
Liverpool has now taken 76 points from a possible 78, which is just stupid if you think about it. If this happened in any other league in Europe (or the world), detractors would use it as proof to say the rest of the league is no good. But in England, Liverpool is hailed as one of the greatest teams of all time, and it’s hard to argue against that.
Foosball — or table soccer — was once the eighth-most popular sport in the United States. Professional footballers raked in huge winnings on a million-dollar tour with Porches given to champions. It was a glamorous time, with the sport appearing in major Hollywood films.
Southampton forward Danny Ings required just 17 minutes of action in 2020 to begin utterly embarrassing defenders. In Wednesday's 1-0 victory over Tottenham — which saw the Saints move up to 12th place on 25 points — Ings kept up his red-hot form with a goal which is sure to leave Toby Alderweireld with nightmares.
Injuries, a contentious World Cup and the personal admission of a desire to abandon the PSG project have all adversely affected Neymar over the past two years — so much so that he found himself omitted entirely from the 30-man list for the 2019 Ballon d’Or.
Despite Antoine Griezmann scoring his first league goal in seven weeks with a sumptuous chip and Lionel Messi recording a record-breaking 35th hat-trick in LaLiga, all anyone wants to talk about nearly 24 hours after Barcelona’s captivating 5-2 victory over Mallorca is the Luis Suárez effort that the Uruguayan striker is labelling the best of his career.
Two momentous matches, two heavenly touches.
In the 31st minute of Liverpool’s Merseyside derby with Everton, Divock Origi gave the Reds a 3-1 lead after cushioning a long ball from Dejan Lovren straight into his own path. His second touch was a looping effort over the despairing Jordan Pickford.
Origi’s first touch was softer than Charmin.
Divock. Origi. pic.twitter.com/ltWk97jtGb
The 2019 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup came to a close on Sunday with Portugal lifting the trophy following a 6-4 victory over Italy in the final. The Azzurri’s Gabriele Gori finished as top scorer for the second-straight tournament with 16 goals in six games, but it was Japan’s Ozu Moreira who received the Golden Ball award as the World Cup’s best player.