As omens go, seeing a crow attack your mascot in mid-air before a match is the type of thing that would make you want to send everyone home immediately and try again another day. But Lazio must have been feeling brave, since they went ahead with their match against Chievo Verona even after a crow attacked their eagle mascot, Olimpia, above the Stadio Olimpico.
Saturday’s Belgrade derby between Red Star and Partizan ended 35 (police injuries) to 41 (fans arrested — down from 104 in 2013!) in yet another, bloody, smoke-filled affair.
On the pitch, the the two sides played to a scoreless draw, keeping first-place Partizan five points ahead of second-place Red Star. But as usual, the real action was in the stands. And it was for that reason that the match began 45 minutes late.
Jose Mourinho has a complicated relationship with the press. In many ways, he feeds off them and their tidal mix of antagonism and reverence for him. Even when he’s making a point of not speaking to them, he demonstrates how important the relationship is to him. But his Friday press conference ahead of facing second-place Arsenal might have produced his favorite question yet.
Before Zlatan Ibrahimovic became overlord of the universe, he was king of Malmo, Sweden. He was born there and he began his career there. So, it’s only right that instead of a presidential suite, the new Clarion Hotel in town has a Zlatan Ibrahimovic suite on its 23rd floor.
This is Chelsea’s Eden Hazard doing stuff with his feet that my brain can’t even comprehend.
He did miss the shot at the end, though. I can do that.
Cristiano Ronaldo was a little off target during warm-ups before the second leg of Real Madrid’s Champions League quarterfinal against Atletico. As a result, he hit a young boy in the stands with an errant shot.
Ronaldo was visibly pained by the accident and watched closely as medical staff at the Bernabeu treated the boy. When his teammates headed back to the dressing room, Cristiano jogged over to the boy and handed him his shirt.
The kid was still in tears after that, but hopefully the realization that from then on he could always break the ice with strangers at parties by saying “I was hit by a Cristiano Ronaldo shot before a Champions League quarterfinal one time” helped the pain of getting smashed by a Ronaldo free kick go away.
Video via Bleacher Report
Hello old friends,
I know it’s been a while since we last spoke, but since this weekend will mark my return to the Emirates — a place where I have so many wonderful memories — I thought I should say a few things.
Chicharito’s late winner against Atletico Madrid to put Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals was a special triumph for him after spending most of the season as the forgotten man. It moved him to tears. But Thierry Henry thinks he celebrated wrong.
Juventus held on for a scoreless draw in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal against Monaco to advance on a 1-0 aggregate, but amidst the celebrations is deep concern. Early in the match, defender Giorgio Chiellini displayed his first symptom of Suarezitis, which he contracted when Luis Suarez bit him at last summer’s World Cup.
With Karim Benzema unavailable to play the second leg of Real Madrid’s scoreless Champions League quarterfinal against Atletico, Chicharito was finally given another chance to show what he can do on the on the biggest stages.
