champions Page 80 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Manchester City's Defending Is Beyond Awful
If one clip could explain how a rich and deep and talented team like Manchester City got bounced so unceremoniously from a Champions League semifinal no one thought they deserved to be in in the first place, and why such a well-run club could perform so erratically so regularly, and why one of the b...
Real Madrid Don't Deserve A Champions League Title, So They'll Probably Get One
Part of what makes European soccer and the multiple trophies it awards each season so special is how close its mechanisms of rewarding champions come to achieving true meritocracy....
Atlético Madrid Lose Their Way Into The Champions League Final
What makes Atlético Madrid different from most other great teams in the sport is that they have mastered the art of reactivity. The prevailing trend in elite soccer is the implementation of proactive, possession-based playing styles. Almost all the richest and therefore best teams in the world pack ...
Saúl Ñíguez Dances Through Bayern Defense, Gives Atlético 1-0 Lead
Check out this ridiculous run right here, and remember that Saúl Ñíguez is a central midfielder not at all known for his dribbling ability, and marvel at his awkward grace as he skates by Bayern Munich’s whole defense and scores:...
Two Butt Teams Combine To Play Butt Game
Real Madrid and Manchester City—two teams that kind of suck in similar ways, and are lucky to even be here thanks to their fortunate draws leading up to this point—met in the Champions League semifinal today. It should’ve been one of the best matches of the year, pitting two greats of Europe in a cl...
Conor McGregor Is (Probably Not, But Who Knows?) Retiring
Conor McGregor—a loudmouthed troll; a genuinely brilliant fighter; and the UFC’s biggest draw and 145-lb. champion—is due to face Nate Diaz at 170 lbs. on July 9. The proposed fight, a rematch of a bout McGregor famously lost last month, is set to headline a card the promotion hopes will be its bigg...
Striker Makes PK Save After Keeper Sent Off With No Substitutes
MK Dons found themselves in a perilous predicament today against Preston North End, as the relegation-zone Championship side had their keeper sent off after they had already used up their three substitutions. That left them to put striker Alex Revell in goal to face what would have been the deciding...
Here's The Champions League Semifinal Draw
Here they are, the matchups that will determine who wins the biggest prize in Europe. And surprise, surprise: Real Madrid got lucky again....
Atlético Madrid Kill Barcelona, Rule Europe For Now
It was always going to come down to that first goal. Coming off a 2-1 first leg of this Barcelona-Atlético Madrid Champions League quarterfinal tie that Barça narrowly edged at home, the next goal was always going to have a huge influence on who went on and who went home. Score it, and Atlético coul...
Middlesbrough Score Bonkers 94th-Minute Winner To Go Top Of The Championship
Fighting to remain above the fray and qualify for promotion to the Premier League directly, Middlesborough took on midtable Reading yesterday. Deep into stoppage time the game was still 1-1, but on a last gasp corner kick, Middlesbrough scored whatever the hell this is....
Cristiano Ronaldo Was Great Today, Just Like He Knew He Would Be
It’s hard to think of a more quintessentially Cristiano Ronaldo performance than the show he put on today. Everything that makes him the all-time great that he is—from the tangible things like his speed, power, technique, and finishing, to the abstract ones like his determination and preternatural i...
![Cristiano Ronaldo Ignites Real Madrid's Comeback With 2 Goals In 2 Minutes [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/fv3c1owkjdcnkzu0jn3e.gif)
Cristiano Ronaldo Ignites Real Madrid's Comeback With 2 Goals In 2 Minutes [Updated]
Now we’ve got a game! After their shocking 2-0 loss against Wolfsburg last week, it looked like Real Madrid were on the cusp of blowing a great chance to make it into the Champions League semifinals. Then today’s game came, and Cristiano Ronaldo showed up, and everything has changed....
Wild Soccer Game In New Zealand Ends With 7 Goals, 6 Red Cards
Welcome to the Oceania Champions League, where the stakes are high, the fuses are short, and the goals and red cards flow in almost equal measure. The above highlights come from a match between Kiwi FC and Nadi FA, which began like any other soccer match, only to eventually devolve into chaos....
Toni Kroos Knocks A Tooth Out Of Wolfsburg Player's Head
Wolfsburg left it all on the field yesterday to secure their commanding 2-0 advantage over Real Madrid in the Champions League, including the blood, sweat, tears, and incisor of full back Vieirinha:...
Elated Idiot On The Field Expresses The World's Feelings On Real Madrid's Loss
Sometimes, when watching a sporting event that breaks exactly the way you wished for but in no way could’ve realistically expected, the only response is to cruise around the living room/bar/office you’re watching it in, arms aloft, with a big dumb grin on your face, ecstatic at your good fortune. Fo...
Manchester City Gift-Wrap Game-Tying Goal For PSG
“So far so good for City,” the commentator remarks before the screen cuts to a replay of the goal that put Manchester City 1-0 up on Paris Saint-Germain just minutes earlier. As Kevin De Bruyne’s shot is shown hitting the back of the net again, the Parisian crowd roars. Not because of the replay, bu...
Breanna Stewart Is A Woman Of Her Word
To nobody’s surprise, the UConn women’s basketball team finished its perfect season with an 82-51 victory over Syracuse in last night’s national championship game. If you’re the kind of jerkass who is constantly looking for reasons to slag women’s college basketball, you could point to UConn’s wire-...
If Atlético Madrid Don't Beat Barcelona Next Week, Nobody Will
Now this—with intensity overflowing from the first whistle until the last, and frantic, blitzkrieg attacking being thwarted by heroic defending—was everything El Clásico was not....
Security Guard Has Fantastic Reaction To Kris Jenkins's Buzzer-Beater
Every now and then, you see some shit so crazy that you momentarily forget where you are and what you’re supposed to be doing. We’ve all been this security guard before:...
Jim Nantz, A Tremendous Weirdo, Gave His Tie To Ryan Arcidiacono
Imagine you are Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono, a senior who just helped your team win one of the greatest championship games in NCAA history. You’re sweaty, you’re euphoric, and you’re covered in confetti. You want to scream and hug your teammates and find your family. You turn toward the crowd, ...