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Hello! Vinicius Junior will be waking up with a smile on his face — is the Ballon d’Or coming his way?
⚽ Vini treble seals Real comeback
✍️ Why Klopp signed for Red Bull
📝 Marinakis’ 14-page spitting row
🎾 Footballer to turn pro… in tennis
Vini, Vidi, Vici: Brazilian scores stunning hat-trick as Ballon d’Or win comes into focus
Borussia Dortmund thought they had their vengeance. Defeated by Real Madrid in last season’s Champions League final, the German side were 2-0 up after 59 minutes of their rematch last night and en route to their first ever win at the Bernabeu.
But there is an inevitability to Madrid, who rise back up like the tide — and Brazil winger Vinicius Jr was their centre of gravity. After Antonio Rudiger pulled one back, Vinicius Jr scored the equaliser less than two minutes later, before adding two more late on to help seal a remarkable 5-2 win.
His second goal stood out, picking up the ball deep inside his own half, outsprinting Emre Can, before cutting inside and whipping the ball into the far corner. We couldn’t even fit the whole thing into the clip above. His third goal reminded Emilio Butragueno, a Real Madrid legend, of Pele.
Vinicius Jr’s main rival for the Ballon d’Or, with the winner being announced on Monday, is Manchester City’s Rodri — but with the midfielder out injured and a historic bias towards attackers, last night’s hat-trick was a reminder of the Brazilian’s talent, with the trophy seemingly destined for Madrid.
He came, he saw, he conquered.
The only bad news for Madrid? Rodrygo injured himself in the build-up to Lucas Vazquez’s go-ahead goal and will miss Saturday’s Clasico at home against Barcelona in La Liga. Their No 1 goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is also out, with a groin problem.
Were you watching, Messi?
This summer was filled with United States Olympic golds; now the change of seasons has brought a U.S. ‘Olimpico’ goal.
Christian Pulisic has completed a feat even Lionel Messi has never managed — scoring directly from a corner kick.
With the match goalless between AC Milan and Club Bruges after 33 minutes last night, Pulisic curled a corner towards the near post… and Simon Mignolet got his positioning all wrong. As the former Liverpool goalkeeper scrambled back towards the front of his goal, he appeared to be unsighted by a clump of four players — and the ball passed around his other side and into the net.
It wasn’t the prettiest, but take nothing away from Pulisic, who is on some run of form — that’s his seventh goal in 11 games this season, to go with three assists. Recently, we asked if this is the best version of the USMNT playmaker. It just might be, you know.
Villa top of the pile
It is 42 years since Aston Villa won the European Cup — and after three games on their long-awaited return to the competition now known as the Champions League this season, Unai Emery’s side are on top once again. For the next few hours, at least.
Yes, it’s early, and matches tonight will affect the standings, but Villa have beaten Young Boys, Bayern Munich and Bologna, all without conceding a goal. Let them dream.
Emery won four Europa League titles in seven years at Sevilla and Villarreal, so he knows his way through a knockout stage, too…
News round-up
Klopportunity Knocks: Why former Liverpool boss joined Red Bull
Jurgen Klopp was expected to take a year-long sabbatical to recharge his batteries after leaving the Liverpool manager’s job over the summer.
This month, however, he joined the Red Bull group as head of soccer — which, from the outside, appeared the antithesis of what he stood for. However, The Athletic’s Simon Hughes has been trying to find out why the German was so keen to take the role — and the reasons have begun to emerge.
Back in September 2022, when he had less than one month to live, Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz invited Klopp to see him at a villa in Austria, with the conversation running deep into the evening. There was mutual admiration and by the time Klopp left Liverpool this May, he had a good idea of where his future might lie.
According to Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s chief motorsport advisor, Klopp’s arrival had been an open secret. Klopp shares similar views on playing style with the Red Bull group’s clubs — and with his Anfield successor Arne Slot, who is taking on RB Leipzig in the Champions League today, attempting to put his own spin on Liverpool, there will be an intriguing sub-plot.
Explaining Barca’s fast start to the season
(Pedro Salado/Quality Sport Images, Eric Alonso; designed by Dan Goldfarb)
Hansi Flick’s summer appointment at Barcelona, after the 59-year-old underwhelmed with the German national team, was greeted with ambivalence rather than excitement.
But Barcelona have started brilliantly and Flick has made that ambivalence part of his own personality, turning it into an asset. The media circus around the Camp Nou club can be deafening, but Flick, who does not speak Catalan or Spanish, has chosen to serenely ignore it.
Last week, he visited the home of Barcelona predecessor Xavi for dinner — it was a peaceful message to a club more used to mistrust and factions. They play Flick’s previous club, Bayern Munich, in the Champions League today and, as Pol Ballus writes, it will be a benchmark of how much Barcelona have grown under their new manager.
🎙️ Are Barcelona as good as they look? Pol and Dermot Corrigan debate their credentials on our latest TAFC podcast.
Every Cough And ‘Spit’
Is it a cough, or was it spit? This is what the latest legal case involving Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis boils down to, after he was given a five-match ban for ‘spitting’ at match officials.
That word is in quotation marks because the Greek shipping magnate hotly contests this characterisation — responding to the FA’s charge with some comic legalese in a 14-page, 58-item, 4,486-word document.
“He smokes two or three cigars a day,” his witness statement begins. “He often needs to expectorate and/or cough. His coughs contain phlegm.”
The killer line? “He cannot now remember if any spittle left his mouth, but if it did (and he does not challenge that some might have done), it certainly was not aimed at the referee’s feet.”
Let’s move on quickly, shall we?
Around The Athletic FC
(Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Catch a match (Times ET/UK)
Europa League, league phase
(Both 10.30am/3.30pm)
Galatasaray vs Elfsborg — Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports; Braga vs Bodo/Glimt — Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports.
Champions League, league phase
(Both 2.45pm/7.45pm kick-off)
Atalanta vs Celtic — Paramount+, Vix/TNT Sports; Brest vs Bayer Leverkusen — Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports.
(All 3pm/8pm)
Atletico Madrid vs Lille — Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports; Barcelona vs Bayern Munich — Paramount+, Fubo/TNT Sports; Benfica vs Feyenoord — Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports; Manchester City vs Sparta Prague — Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports; RB Leipzig vs Liverpool — Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports; Red Bull Salzburg vs Dinamo Zagreb — Paramount+, ViX/TNT Sports; Young Boys vs Inter Milan — TNT Sports.
MLS Play-offs, wild-card
Portland Timbers vs Vancouver Whitecaps, 10.30pm/3.30am — Apple TV.
And finally… some, er, tennis!
(Kevin Santamaria / Tenis al Maximo)
Do footballers get bored in retirement? Do they miss that competitive edge? For Diego Forlan, this is surely true.
The former Uruguay and Manchester United striker is set to make his professional tennis debut… at the age of 45.
The ex-striker — who could have gone professional on the court if not the pitch — will appear at next month’s Uruguay Open.
Always at his best in a strike partnership, Forlan will play doubles alongside Federico Coria on the Challenger Tour event, tennis’ second tier.
And that’s game, set, match for today’s edition. See you tomorrow!
(Top photo: Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images)
