The 2019-20 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw has been completed, and now all teams know which teams will be their opponents heading into the knockout stages of the competition. As it s always the case, some teams were benefited while others will have a tough time trying to reach the quarterfinals.
Among the benefited teams, we can find Valencia, Barcelona and Juventus. Los Che will take on Atalanta arguably the weaker side on the knockout stages while Barcelona will play against a Napoli side that looks like a shell of their former self. Meanwhile, Juventus will play against Olympique Lyon. The reigning Serie A champions somehow managed to avoid facing teams such as Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund or Chelsea.
Chelsea and Madrid were two of the teams that wouldn t f…
FIFA has finally released the three finalists for the Ballon d Or Award: Real Madrid s Cristiano Ronaldo, and FC Barcelona s Xavi and Lionel Messi.
Messi, a two-time winner of the award (2009, 2010), is the favorite to win the award after a magnificent season which saw FC Barcelona win La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo previously won the award in 2008 and could very much so deserve another one this year.
In 2010-11, Ronaldo tallied a ridiculous 53 goals in 54 games. Simply stunning.
The former Manchester United talisman has kept it going this season, bagging 21 goals in just 20 appearances for Los Blancos.
But Lionel Messi has been just as impressive. The crafty Argentine striker scored 53 goals and added 24 assist…
If you run down Aaron Rodgers’ Christmas list, you may find some strange asks, but you won’t find the Chicago Bears on there. He already owns them.
The last time the Green Bay Packers clashed with the rival Bears, Rodgers was an efficient 17 for 23 for 195 yards and two passing touchdowns. Rodgers – and his lingering toe injury – gets another shot at ownership when the Cheeseheads hosts Chicago on Sunday Night Football in Week 14.
Coming off a bye and laying a lot of lumber, the Packers put their NFL-best 10-2 ATS mark to the test. Here are our free NFL picks and predictions for Bears at Packers on December 12.
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It’s been a great NFL betting season for those who like fading favorites, as underdogs have won over 57% of the time through seven weeks. But regression figures to happen soon, and Week 8 could be that time.
We’ve identified four betting favorites representing good NFL odds value this weekend, and have broken them up into Week 8’s NFL parlay picks, which we’ll discuss below.
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The Denver Broncos are in the middle of an unlikely renaissance that has put them back into playoff contention in the AFC. At the center of this surge has been quarterback Russell Wilson, who may not be putting up the gaudiest numbers in the league, but has been consistently good nearly all year long.
The Week 15 odds are against the Broncos as they visit the suddenly vulnerable Detroit Lions, who have lost two of their last three. Wilson will need to be on his game to lead Denver to another improbable victory, but there are reasons to be optimistic about his performance tonight.
Read on to see what I think about the Russell Wilson odds this week in my free NFL picks for the Broncos vs. Lions on Saturday, December 16.
Be sure to also check out our Bronc…
The hire of Jim Harbaugh had the sun shining on the Los Angeles Chargers again after a lifeless 5-12 SU and 6-11 ATS finish in 2023.
Then Justin Herbert hurt his foot. Now the future of the franchise — or at least the start to the 2024 campaign — is in question.
The Bolts hope that their star quarterback can recover from a pesky plantar fascia injury in time for Week 1. But that’s a lingering ailment that is easy to reaggravate and could stick with Herbert all year if not given time to heal.
That hiccup puts Los Angeles behind schedule in terms of transitioning to the new system under Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman. It also puts extra weight on the Chargers defense, which doesn’t have much beyond a handful of…
An hour into a conversation that has ranged from childhood TV favourites to the challenges of retirement, reflecting on destiny and “what if” moments that defined a career, I stumble into one topic that Francesco Totti considers taboo. All it took was a question about whether he lets his 15-year-old son, Cristian, beat him at pinball.
“No!” he exclaims, fixing me with incredulous eyes from the other end of our Zoom call. “Things have to be earned, not given!”
What other mindset could we expect from a man who stayed his whole career at one club, declining opportunities to earn and win more elsewhere? Totti made his senior debut with Roma in 1992 and played there for a quarter of a century, retiring in 201…
Out of a shameful moment in the history of the Milan derby came one of its most beautiful images. The last meeting of Milan and Inter in the Champions League, in April 2005, was paused by the referee after fans created a scene more reminiscent of Dante’s Inferno than a sporting event. Yet the legacy of this game is a story of camaraderie thanks to a split-second decision to press down on a shutter release button.
Against an apocalyptic backdrop of smoke and burning objects stood the Inter defender Marco Materazzi, with his elbow casually leaning on the shoulder of Milan’s midfielder Rui Costa. They stood together, watching the chaos unfold.
Eighteen years later, as the teams prepare to meet again on Wednesday in…
Jason Kenny delighted Team GB fans by winning a sixth career Olympic gold medal on Tuesday, but the controversy in the keirin final caught the ire of Monaco striker Radamel Falcao.
Kenny etched his name among the pantheon of British Olympic greats when he matched Chris Hoy s national record of six gold medals by sealing victory in contentious circumstances in the velodrome.
The race had to be restarted twice, and on the first instance Kenny was faced with the threat of disqualification for overtaking the derny bike before it left the track.
However, the 28-year-old was cleared of wrongdoing and, after a failed second attempt, Kenny finally took the win ahead of Matthijs Buchli of the Netherlands and Malaysian Azizulhasni Awang.
But Falcao, who is well k…
Day four of the Euro 2008 tournament saw Russia lose 4-1 to Spain and defending champions Greece lose 2-0 to Sweden.
Spain looked very impressive with a hat-trick from David Villa and a late goal from substitute Cesc Fabrigas. Russia were really not in the game at all and scored only a consolation through Roman Pavlyuchenko.
I don t want to sound anti-Greek but the talk before the tournament was that they would be more expansive than they were in 2004. They weren t. They were very, very, very boring. I didn t mind who won but I cheered when Sweden scored!
With the first round of matches completed it is time to look at who is hot and who is not, so far in the competition. We will revisit this after each round of matches and the quarter-finals, semi-finals and f…