Having played more games and winning more trophies than any other player in Barcelona history, Xavi made his final appearance at the Camp Nou in Barca’s La Liga finale against Deportivo La Coruna.
DTotD: Player sent off for cynical challenge on football playing BBQ sauce bottle mascot
Central Coast Mariners held a testimonial for retiring captain John Hutchinson and the match included a mascot dressed as a BBQ sauce bottle, because why the hell not?
The sauce bottle weaved its way through a group of players loitering around the middle of the pitch to set itself up for a clear shot on goal, but Brent Griffiths cut the bottle down with a vicious tackle from behind. This earned Griffiths a red card. In a testimonial. Against a sauce bottle.
The match also included a ball boy in goal at one point and ended 12-5 in favor of Hutchinson’s team. The main takeaway from all of this, however, is that the world needs more footballing BBQ sauce bottles.
This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.
Video via The Mirror
The very best pictures from Bayern Munich’s beer soaked Bundesliga finale
Bayern Munich have concluded the Bundesliga season with a 2-0 win against Mainz and their annual beer shower. They also set a few more records in the process.
Borussia Dortmund fans thank Jurgen Klopp with brilliant display
It’s been a strange and difficult season for Borussia Dortmund. Just three months ago, the players were trying to calm irate fans as the team sat at the very bottom of the Bundesliga table. But the final league match of the season — and Jurgen Klopp’s final home match with the club — proved to be a sentimental affair with a happy ending.
Football Shirt Friday: Bayern, Everton, Newcastle, and a special tribute to Xavi
Our first Football Shirt Friday went well, so let’s do it again. Here’s this week’s offerings…
Leicester City owners to buy a celebratory beer for every fan attending final match of the season
To properly celebrate surviving their first season back in the Premier League, Leicester City owners Vichai and Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha will buy the first round of beers (or bottled water) for every fan in attendance at their final match of the season.
Xavi’s letter to Qatar: A formal announcement of his impending arrival
Xavi has announced that he will leave Barcelona at the end of the season and join Qatari club Al-Sadd on a two-year contract. The end of Xavi’s extraordinary 24 years with Barca, from La Masia to winning 23 trophies with the first team, will be an emotional one. But he’s looking forward to his new adventure in Qatar — not only on the pitch, but in his new position with the Aspire Academy and as an ambassador for the 2022 World Cup.
This is Xavi’s letter to the people of his new home…
Luis Figo suddenly realizes that FIFA elections aren’t on the level, abandons campaign
Poor, handsome Luis Figo. After months of traveling the world, holding up a manifesto, and touting himself as the man to reform FIFA, he has abruptly dropped his idealistic bid to become president of football’s governing body upon arriving at the shocking realization that the election might not be totally fair. Like someone applying to be CEO of slaughterhouse rescinding their application after finding out that they get their meat by killing animals.
If only someone had told him of this certainty before he went to the trouble of coming up with a hashtag.
Randers FC fan casually scores impressive halftime shot to win 100,000 kroner
Randers FC fan Michael Hansen was tasked with kicking the ball through a small hole in the top corner of the net from the penalty spot at halftime of a match against Habro. The prize was 100,000 kroner (about $15,000).
So, wearing jeans and a baseball cap, he put the ball down and lined up his shot, then he walked up to the ball and chipped into through the hole like it was the easiest thing in the world.
The remnants of the crowd went wild, the money was his, and that’s how you make some quick cash at a football match.
PES 2015 ads appearing on La Liga teams’ socks
Like a plague spreading through the bloodstream, kit advertisements have now made their way down to players’ socks in La Liga. A deal has been struck between the LFP and Konami to slap ads for video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2015 (aka Not FIFA 15) on one of the last remaining sections of a player’s body that isn’t sponsored.