Barcelona put the finishing touches on its 2017-18 La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad on Sunday. Philippe Coutinho scored the lone goal with a wonder strike in the 57th minute. The match also brought Andres Iniesta’s Barca career to a close.
Fernando Torres has been enjoying one helluva send-off at Atletico Madrid. Last Wednesday, he appeared as a late substitute in Atletico’s 3-0 Europa League triumph over Marseille. Torres represented Atleti at the senior level for over 10 years, but it was the first trophy “El Niño” had lifted with his boyhood club since the Segunda Division title back in 2002.
Santos Laguna defeated Toluca 2-1 in the first leg of the 2018 Liga MX Clausura Final thanks to strikes from Djaniny and Julio Furch, but Luis Quinones’ lone goal for Toluca makes for an incendiary second leg back at “La Bombonera” on Sunday.
It should come as no surprise given what transpired on his debut, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic hasn’t exactly reached the heights expected of him in Los Angeles. Yes, his return of three goals and three assists in only 487 minutes is quintessential Zlatan, but the big Swede is also a legend for another reason: winning.
If Real Madrid wins a third straight Champions League title on May 26 in Kiev, Cristiano Ronaldo and company will have earned every bit of it. Karim Benzema scored two goals for Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich on Tuesday at the Bernabeu as the Merengues advanced to the Champions League final for the third straight year with a 2-2 draw and 4-3 aggregate victory.
How quickly can a man go from hero to villain?
For Kalidou Koulibaly, it was less than ten minutes of actual game time. After scoring the winning goal against Juventus in the dying minutes, reviving Napoli’s floundering title challenge, he was sent off in the first five minutes of the next game away to Fiorentina, squandering any resurgent hopes by setting the scene for a 3-0 thrashing by the home side.
Arsene Wenger is on his way out at Arsenal and it seems the Gunners don’t want to quite give up some of the old Wenger ways. Slapstick defending that harkened back to Arsenal’s worst years under Wenger cost Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid in the semifinal first leg in the Europa League on Thursday at Emirates Stadium in London.
Toronto FC just finished the best Concacaf Champions League run in MLS history. They didn't win, but they came as close to winning the thing as possible. A lot of blame will fall at the feet of Michael Bradley, both because his miss was so bad aesthetically and because of the USMNT's recent failings.
In one of the ultimate glamor ties of European club football, it was Real Madrid left back Marcelo who emerged as Wednesday’s Man of the Match in his side’s 2-1 away leg victory over Bayern Munich.
The 29-year-old Brazilian’s day got off to a flyer when opposition winger Arjen Robben was forced off with an injury as early as the 8th minute. The introduction of Thiago Alcantara as his replacement immediately shifted Bayern’s focus to the middle of the park and allowed Marcelo more freedom to get forward on the wing.
Last week, we asked whether Serie A has a Juventus problem. With the title race seemingly done and dusted, a seventh scudetto securely in the bag, the question was whether this record-breaking period of success was in danger of undermining the Italian game.