Game Recaps

If ever there was a time to come up against Bayer Leverkusen, this was it. Hamburg, sitting 17th in the 18-team Bundesliga, were at home, and Leverkusen were without the injured Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and still rocking from the news of midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu’s four-month suspension. 

Hamburg have the distinction of being the only German club to have played in the top tier of German football since their inception — a staggering 96 years straight. With half the season gone, Hamburg are staring relegation in the face.

It's done and dusted. Cameroon defeated Ghana 2-0 in the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals Thursday and will move on to the final against Egypt on Sunday.

Barcelona, the defending Copa del Rey champions, are on the cusp of being able to defend their title after defeating Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Madrid. Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi put Barca up 2-0 by halftime, but Antoine Griezmann managed to pull one back for Atletico in the 59th minute. 

Over 48,000 inside the Vicente Calderon witnessed a nightmare start as Suarez opened the scoring for Barcelona in the seventh minute. With Javier Mascherano returned to the defensive midfield role, his crunching tackle saw the ball roll free to Suarez. 

Barcelona’s 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal became a mere footnote as the Blaugrana thrashed their opposition in the return leg, 5-2.

Lionel Messi registered a goal and two assists, Luis Suarez added a goal and a fantastic assist of his own, while Denis Suarez benefited from the vision of his teammates to score two. Arda Turan was also on the scoresheet for Barcelona.

Real Madrid ventured to Celta Vigo’s Balaidos stadium in Galicia needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit to advance to the Copa del Rey semifinals. In the end, Celta held their nerve to secure a 2-2 draw and advance 4-3 on aggregate.

The Celts earned a first half advantage when Danilo turned the ball into his own net, his second own goal in his last three appearances. A shot from John Guidetti was brilliantly saved by Kiko Casilla, but the rebound deflected off Danilo and into the net.

The Africa Cup of Nations is usually full of surprises, and the 2017 edition of the tournament has been no different. We’ve already seen the hosts, Gabon, eliminated, tournament favorites Algeria sent packing and defending champions the Ivory Coast knocked out during group play.

The Ivory Coast, which featured the talents of Salomon Kalou, Wilfried Zaha, Wilfried Bony, Max Gradel, Serge Aurier and Eric Bailly, were ultimately punished for a slow start to their AFCON tournament on Tuesday.

In the opening episode of the newest, most extravagant HBO television series, The Young Pope, the decidedly Neapolitan Cardinal Angelo Voiello, anticipating his upcoming meeting with the Holy See, lays out on a desk his three smartphones. Each is emblazoned with a slightly different cover. The Naples Trinity, Voiello calls them: the attacking trident which set Serie A on fire. Marek Hamsik, Lorenzo Insigne and Gonzalo Higuain. 

Barcelona closed the gap on Real Madrid to two points, although Real still have a game in hand, following their 4-0 victory over Eibar on Sunday. Denis Suarez opened the scoring before goals from the attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar finished the contest.

Sunday’s Premier League encounter between Arsenal and Burnley at the Emirates featured damn near everything. With Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United all failing to win on Saturday, it was up to the Gunners to keep the pressure on league leaders Chelsea.

Real Madrid’s hopes of winning the treble suffered a blow as Celta Vigo scored an improbable 2-1 victory in the Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real will now look to overturn the deficit on January 25 at the Balaidos in Galicia. 

Zinedine Zidane has seen his total number of losses as Real Madrid manager double in the space of three days, although that speaks more for his remarkable success at the helm than it does any sort of crisis in the Spanish capital.