Steven Gerrard and Mario Balotelli are men with two very different reputations, but recent events prove that this is the result of Gerrard’s concerted efforts to distract from his own misdeeds.
Author: Brooks Peck
Real Madrid ban supporter for assaulting players’ cars after Clasico loss
Following Real Madrid’s 2-1 loss at Barcelona, a pair of the club’s more unrepentantly turdish supporters decided to wait for the players to retrieve their cars upon returning to Madrid and then abuse said cars as they departed. Clearly, these guys have very full and rewarding lives.
Brazilian club’s mascot gets sent off for antagonizing other team’s fans
Sao Bernardo lost 1-0 to Palmeiras in the Campeonato Paulista, almost certainly because they suffered the devastating blow of having their mascot sent off. The match altering decision came before the start of the second half, when the tiger mascot antagonized visiting Palmeiras supporters by “imitating a pig” in front of them. The referee did not appreciate his brand of humor and sent him off.
Teammates get into shoving match over who takes penalty, winner’s shot gets saved
When Guizhou Renhe player Hyure was tripped in the box during a Chinese Super League game against Shanghai Shenxin, an argument ensued over who would take the resulting penalty. It did not involve Hyure.
Guizhou Renhe captain Krzysztof Maczynski and Ricardo Santos did some pushing and shoving as they had a childish argument over who would take the penalty, before Maczynski finally won out. Of course, fighting with your own teammate isn’t the best way to mentally prepare for a spot kick, so his shot was saved.
Maczynski and Santos did make amends later, though — as the Polish captain set up the Brazilian for a winner in the 80th minute.
MANUEL NEUER MAKES A MISTAKE, BAYERN MUNICH’S SEASON IN RUINS
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a rare error to allow the first goal in his side’s Bundesliga match against Borussia Monchengladbach and now EVERYTHING IS FALLING APART AROUND THEM.
Leo Messi is the designated driver for the Clasico afterparty
Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-1 at the Camp Nou and judging by Neymar’s post-match Instagram photo, the Barca players celebrated the result by putting on their most ridiculous clubbing attire and piling into Uncle Leo Messi’s minivan for a night on the town.
Dani Alves wore his gold shoes, Neymar a red leather jacket, Adriano had on a denim one with gaudy cuff flair, Rafinha decided to be a hitman, and Douglas was a cross between Carlton Banks and a nightclub owner. Then there was Messi, who looked like he was dressed by his mother — perhaps fitting since he has a tattoo of her face on his shoulder.
Anyway, it’s good to see that the boys had a designated driver for the evening. And that Uncle Leo isn’t just sitting home with his Lego collection.
Barcelona’s pre-Clasico mosaic was rather beautiful
The impossible hype that consistently surrounds El Clasico should be enough to make the match itself a regular disappointment and yet it still lives up to the expectations almost every single time. A big part of this is the incomparable atmosphere. And Barcelona demonstrated this with their pre-match mosaic at the Camp Nou, accompanied by the 98,000 components of it singing their hearts out.
Liverpool fans had to hold Mario Balotelli back from a confrontation with Chris Smalling
In the aftermath of Steven Gerrard’s stomp and go performance in Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Man United, Mario “I do what I want” Balotelli entered the match and promptly earned a yellow card himself. A bit later, the Italian striker got into a tussle with Chris Smalling by the touchline and, in order to prevent him from suffering a similar fate to Gerrard, several Liverpool fans held Mario back from charging at his opponent.
DTotD: Steven Gerrard sent off 48 seconds after entering Liverpool-Man Utd match
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard did not start Sunday’s highly anticipated match against Manchester United, but with his side down 1-0 at halftime, he was brought on for Adam Lallana. And 48 seconds later, he was sent off.
DT Exclusive: Every interview with Pele ever
Pele was recently in London, making sandwiches with Liverpool greats Robbie Fowler and Steven McManaman as part of a surreal campaign for a certain international fast food chain. As part of this event, he spoke to a number of journalists, giving him the opportunity to say the things he always says.
This is every Pele interview ever.