BARCELONA — Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez berated the referee and said his performance cost Barcelona a chance to fight for a place in the Champions League semi-finals after they lost 4-1 to Paris Saint-Germain and were knocked out of the competition on Tuesday.
A cup final in Saudi Arabia just had one of the most bizarre and disturbing fan-player interactions you will ever see.
Following Saudi Arabia’s Super Cup final between Saudi League giants Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad on Thursday — a match that saw Al-Hilal completely dominate Al-Ittihad with a 4-1 scoreline — a fan evidently upset with his club’s performance on the pitch and eager to protest the loss to Al-Ittihad, assaulted a player with a whip from the stands. Yes, this actually happened.
If you’ve already seen the Christian Pulisic goal from Thursday’s Europa League game between AC Milan and Slavia Praha, then you know we’re being sarcastic with our headline.
Pulisic scored Milan’s fourth goal in a 4-2 victory at San Siro, but we’ll admit he may or may not have stolen a goal from Rafael Leão.
In the 85th minute Pulisic was involved in the build-up of what turned out to be a dazzling run and clever finish from Leão. Pulisic then helped it over the line at the last moment.
The internet is quick with the memes and joke videos.
Real Madrid survived a real scare from RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday as Vinicius Jr. scored a critical goal in a 1-1 draw and 2-1 victory on aggregate to book a spot in the quarterfinals.
Fans have a big question about Real Madrid’s win. Should Vini. Jr have even been on the field when he scored his goal?
A controversial moment took place in the 54th minute when the Brazilian winger caught Leipzig’s Willi Orbán late on a tackle. When Orbán confronted Vini Jr. about the tackle the Real Madrid man shoved the defender in the upper chest/throat area.
Christian Pulisic was the spotlight of two hectic moments between AC Milan and Lazio players on Friday during the Rossoneri’s 1-0 victory. In the second half Pulisic got under the Lazio players’ skin and drew two red cards.
The first incident saw the American dragged to the ground by Lazio defender Luca Pellegrini who was given a second yellow card and sent off. Pellegrini had already picked up a yellow card earlier in the game for a hard tackle on Pulisic.
Last-placed Sheffield United took a tough Premier League loss in their match hosting Brighton this Sunday. Despite having the opportunity to overpass relegation-rivals Burnley with a win or draw, another 5-0 loss (the second one in February) sent the Blades to yet another match day as the worst team in England’s top-flight.
BOUAKE — Hosts Ivory Coast kept up their incredible escape act at the Africa Cup of Nations as they came from behind to beat Mali 2-1 in Saturday’s quarterfinal, scoring a last-gasp goal in extra time to book a semifinal with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Oumar Diakite got a touch to Seko Fofana’s strike to win the game for the Ivorians, who played with 10 men for most of the match after Odilon Kossounou was sent off shortly before halftime.
IVORY COAST ADVANCES
With the AFC and NFC Championships on the horizon the football spirit is at an all-time high. The feeling is apparently contagious with one case of football fever spotted in Belgium after a great Kevin Mac Allister tackle.
Argentine defender Mac Allister received a straight red card for a tackle during a Belgian Cup game between powerhouses Union Saint-Gilloise and Anderlecht.
Mac Allister’s teammate gave a half-hearted effort to bring down an opponent in on goal so the 26-year-old showed everyone how it’s done.
Kevin Mac Allister tackle
United States men’s national team defender Chris Richards had a heart-in-mouth moment on Wednesday when he was shown the first red card of his career. Thankfully for the 23-year-old the red card was immediately rescinded.
During Crystal Palace’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea the American defender — who plays a defensive midfielder role for Palace — took one for the team and committed a foul to halt a counterattack.
In the 73rd minute Noni Madueke had successfully dribbled past Richards and the USMNT player tried to pull on the Chelsea forward’s shirt to slow him down.
French striker Jeremy Menez received two yellow cards in the span of six seconds on Tuesday when the referee wasn’t a fan of his sarcastic clapping.
The incident occurred in stoppage time of the Serie B game between Menez’s Bari FC and Andrea Pirlo’s Sampdoria.
In the 95th minute Menez received a yellow card. Things appeared to be normal. That was until Menez gave the referee a sarcastic round of applause for the booking and in an instant the other yellow card came out.
Jeremy Menez red card vs. Sampdoria