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.
Tag: Dirty Tackle
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.
Mario Balotelli posts video reminder that he does what he wants
On the eve of Liverpool’s big match against Manchester United, Mario Balotelli posted (and subsequently deleted) a video to his Instagram account clarifying two things:
1) That he supports Liverpool.
2) That he does what he wants.
Milan ultras boycott Cagliari match, leave “Game Over” banners
Roma fans made their feelings known about their club’s current form by walking out during their Europa League match against Fiorentina earlier in the week, but now Milan fans have gone a step further by starting their own boycott before kickoff.
Several positives that will hopefully dry Falcao’s tears
Radamel Falcao is sad. After missing out on Colombia’s exhilarating World Cup run due to injury, his loan move to Manchester United has been little more than a different brand of awful with four goals in just 19 appearances and a demoralizing run out for the U-21s in which he only lasted 71 ineffective minutes. And now Falcao’s friend and former agent, Silvano Espindola, is apparently telling the press that the striker is sitting in a puddle of his own tears.
From the Guardian:
“We talk a lot. I’m not going to say that he feels happy because he’s not,” he said. “We’ve spoken many times and cried together. It’s not an easy situation because every player wants to play and every goalscorer wants to score goals, that’s normal.”
Espindola is right about that. These things happen and it’s important that Falcao doesn’t lose sight of the positives. Of which there are, you know, some. So let’s cheer him up with a few.
The solutions to Chelsea’s “penalty puzzle”
Earlier this week, Chelsea’s official website published an unusual article highlighting the low number of penalties awarded to them this season (spoiler: it’s two).
Filed in the “news” section, the article was simply titled, “Penalty Puzzle,” which seems to imply a link to manager Jose Mourinho’s belief that there is a sinister conspiracy actively working against his team. Because puzzles are purposefully arranged circumstances and not the result of mere coincidence, which is something that doesn’t exist. In fact, that’s probably not even a real word.
During his Friday press conference, Mourinho discussed the article. From the Telegraph:
“Our two closest challengers in the Premier League this season, Manchester City and Arsenal, have both been awarded seven penalties, the most in the division,” said the article. “Last term the two teams that finished above us, Man City and Liverpool, were awarded more penalties than any other team bar us.
“Of course it could be that when teams have played the league leaders they have been particularly careful inside their own area. We all have plenty of recollections suggesting this is not the case however.”
Mourinho went on to say that he thinks it was “a very objective article” and “not an opinion article that can lead to discussions. It’s just the numbers.”
Every puzzle has a solution, though. And this one has several.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s expert analysis of the Champions League quarterfinal draw
Gianni Infantino has stopped talking long enough to do the Champions League quarterfinal draw and I must say I am disappointed. First, because UEFA only reduced my ban for that stupid red card against Chelsea to one game instead of wiping it completely and begging for my forgiveness. Second, because they said that my idea to open the draw by using a French referee as a human Zlacrifice to acknowledge that PSG are too good for France was “inappropriate.” And third because I must wait even longer to get my revenge on Pep Guardiola, who gets super lucky again.
Louis van Gaal is already talking about retiring
Louis van Gaal got off to a rough start at Man United, but things are starting to come together. He’s got them back up to fourth in the Premier League and just two points behind second-place Man City. So less than a third of the way through his contract and still a month away from outlasting predecessor David Moyes in the job, Van Gaal is already talking about how wonderful it will be to retire to his Portuguese paradise.