Joshua Kimmich, like Jon Snow before him, knows nothing. Pep Guardiola’s beloved bastard son was allotted action in 23 Bundesliga matches last season, tallying zero goals. His adept displays in defensive roles for Bayern led Guardiola to claim that “he’s perhaps one of the best center backs in the world”.
Celtic central defender Kolo Toure, The18's 2015 Player of the Year, has boatloads of good experience in big matches. Unfortunately, that is not how it worked out against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Liverpool fans and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, who was at Anfield at the time, will remember when Toure had a similar howler against West Brom in February 2014, which snatched a 1-1 draw from the jaws of victory--and may have helped cost the Reds the EPL title that season.
Manchester City learned just how costly making mistakes against Barcelona can be. Especially early on, City's pressing looked like it was really bothering Barcelona's makeshift defense. Then Manchester City made one mistake, then another, then the game was basically over.
Messi opened the scoring when Fernandinho slipped and the rest of City's defense just kind of stood there and looked at each other.
Ludogorets Razgrad travelled to London to face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, and no one believed the side from Bulgaria would emerge with a result. Even English pubs forsook trying to entice patrons as there was simply nothing to see here.
Despite watching his penalty saved in Manchester City’s 1-1 draw with the Everson this weekend, Kevin De Bruyne is as confident as ever going into his Champions League match.
“We do not fear. The style of play is very dominant and we have not played badly [against Everton]. We just have not scored more, that's all,” De Bruyne told reporters earlier this week following a missed penalty against Everton this weekend.
The Borussia Dortmund-Sporting CP contest Tuesday was a very interesting match for a variety of reasons.
It was interesting because Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang threw a Sporting defender to the ground then chipped the keeper.
Porto and Mexico National Team player Miguel Layun is a fullback and occasional defensive midfielder by trade, which is weird because he can do things like this:
Tottenham Hotspur held Bayern Leverkusen 0-0 in Tuesday night's Champions League encounter in Germany on the back of some ridiculous heroics from Hugo Lloris in net.
The first half saw Hotspur attempt to take the game to Leverkusen, but the German club defended resolutely. Vincent Janssen hit the post for the visitors and Christian Eriksen's follow-up attempt brought a great save out of Bernd Leno.
On April 9, 2013, Borussia Dortmund gained the fandom of millions around the world — or maybe it was just me. Dortmund had already achieved domestic success and Champions League glory in the past, but most fans (once again, me) cared more for their FIFA video game squad chemistry than their actual real-life play.
Although Celtic is coached by ex-Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers, no stranger to his Manchester City opponents, the Pep Guardiola led Citizens should have easily pulled out a win against the Scottish champions. However, yesterday's result showed that maybe the rise of Kevin De Bruyne and not the acquisition of Guardiola is the reason behind Manchester City’s place at the top of the Premier League table.