Juventus

Cristiano Ronaldo, like every other footballer on the planet, is underrated when it comes to headers.

On Wednesday, Juventus began its knockout campaign in the Champions League against FC Porto, a 2-1 defeat. With some big names such as Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado limited for the Bianconeri, it was a big stage for young American Weston McKennie to make his mark in the competition. 

There was a thought — an expectation even — that Cristiano Ronaldo would return to Portugal and put on a show in his home country. Juventus, the only Italian champion in the last 10 years, would be expected to take care of business against a club from outside of Europe’s top five leagues. After all, the last time Ronaldo played Porto, he scored a goal that won him a Puskás Award.

But Porto does not care for your expectations. Porto has its own plans in the Champions League. 

NAPLES, Italy — Lorenzo Insigne's first-half penalty earned Napoli a 1-0 home win over Juventus in Serie A on Saturday, with a first defeat in eight in all competitions leaving the champions seven points behind league leaders AC Milan in the standings.

Veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini was penalised for a foul on Napoli's Amir Rrahmani in the penalty area to concede a 31st-minute spot kick, which Insigne converted to score what proved to be the winner and his 100th goal in all competitions for Napoli.

The cliché suggests Cristiano Ronaldo is aging like a fine wine. But we might have to rethink that aphorism to say fine wines age like Cristiano Ronaldo. No matter how old he gets, he just seems to keep getting better. Before turning 30 he scored 0.64 goals per game; since turning 30 he’s scoring better than 0.92 goals per game. 

If you’re FC Barcelona, do you want the good news first, or bad news? The good news is that, according to Deloitte’s annual report for the world's richest soccer teams 2021, Barcelona was the highest-earning club in 2020! The bad news is that total revenue was decreased by nearly $153 million, a precipitous fall of 15 percent from 2019’s earnings. Oh, and you’re also $1.46 billion in debt.

In between going the full 90 in Juventus’ Supercoppa victory over Napoli and scoring against Bologna in Serie A play on Sunday, Weston McKennie found time to visit Ollivanders wand shop in Diagon Alley. 

This is a magical goal celebration. 

It’s been decreed by content creators across the land: Cristiano Ronaldo, with his 760th career goal, is now the top scoring player in soccer history, and there’s nothing Pelé can do now except bow to B/R Football’s use of the goat emoji. 

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— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) January 20, 2021