England's chances of winning a major trophy have been a running joke for more than half a century, but at Euro 2020, the stars may finally be aligning.
Lukaku has been named man of the match in both games so far for tournament co-favorite Belgium. And it's been more about his intelligence and skill than anything.
He doesn't score goals. He profiles more like a scrawny high school sophomore than world-class athlete. And he's arguably France's most important player.
In his first year as Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi has carried his side and plowed his way into the club's first Champions League semifinal since 2015.
Stamping out inappropriate fan behavior before it has a chance to boil over – like the NBA did with Russell Westbrook's Utah incident – would go a long way toward helping soccer curtail its problem.
Real Madrid’s failure to grow or adapt post-Cristiano Ronaldo cost it dearly in Sunday’s El Clasico. BARCELONA — After days of consistent rain, the heavens parted and the sun shone through ahead of Sunday’s kickoff on a crisp Sunday in Barcelona. The change in weather appeared to be a signal from the heavens to welcome a fresh look, after both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo would not feature in the rivalry match for the first time since Ronaldo arrived in the Spanish capital in 2009.
El Clasico is never just another match, of course, but Sunday’s El Clasico is the first $8 billion match in the history of sport. Sunday’s 177th league El Clasico features Real Madrid valued at $4.088 billion and Barcelona valued at $4.064 billion, good enough for the fourth- and third-most valuable sports franchises, respectively — behind only Manchester United and the Dallas Cowboys per Forbes’ 2018 valuations. No match in any sport has featured two clubs valued at a combined $8 billion, and unlike the recent state of the Cowboys and United, Barcelona and Real Madrid have continued to succeed in the field of play and in the financial arena.
Lionel Messi is still, incredibly quietly, the best player on the planet and, probably, the greatest player of all time. Barcelona to win the Champions League always seems like a smart bet at the start of a campaign, but the current run for Messi with Barcelona is greater than simply winning 4-0 on Tuesday night at Camp Nou. For starters, Real Madrid hoarding Champions League trophies with Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo speaks for itself, but Barcelona was still clearly the best team in Spain last season, not Madrid.
The 2018-19 Premier League season is upon us. To get you set for the planet’s most enthralling 38-game soccer circuit, Yahoo Sports’ Premier League XI will delve into the 11 most compelling questions ahead of the coming campaign. Next up is Liverpool’s expensive but ambitious quest to reclaim the English top flight.