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Earlier on Wednesday, we learned that Chelsea forward and world class footballer Eden Hazard wouldn’t be taking his talents to Greece as the Blues commence their 2018-19 European campaign. Hazard stayed behind in London, instead of traveling with the rest of his teammates for the Europa League group stage match at PAOK Salonika Thursday night.
Later on Wednesday we learned why- the 27-year-old Belgian is tired.
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Liverpool FC are coming off a thrilling 3-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League group stages last night. Roberto Firmino scored the game winner in extra time, overcoming an eye injury he suffered last weekend to rise off the bench and provide the fireworks.
He celebrated with a gesture that mocked his eye fitness issue, and the reaction of teammate Mohamed Salah to the scoring strike inspired controversy. Was Salah angry? Did the Egyptian celebrate his team’s glory? Take a look at the video at this link, which gives you a clear answer.
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Cristiano Ronaldo, world superstar of footballing superstars, saw his first UEFA Champions League match in a Juventus shirt end early tonight due to his getting sent off. Ronaldo, who drew a red card in the 29′ on a very questionable call against Valencia, will now miss Juve’s next European clash, and could possibly miss the next two after that.
If UEFA does suspend him for the next three European games, he would miss both contests against his former club, Manchester United. Juventus play at Old Trafford on October 23rd, and if Ronaldo is able to feature in that contest, it would be just the second time he’s been on the visitor’s side since leaving the club in 2009.
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Chelsea FC and PAOK Salonika will meet for the first time ever in UEFA competition tomorrow night, as the two sides will clash in a Europa League group stage fixture. The Blues begin their European campaign in Greece, with the Group L opener against a PAOK side that won both of their previous meetings against an English team.
The Greek side beat Arsenal 1-0 in 1997 and Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in 2011. On the other side, Chelsea are undefeated all time against clubs from Greece, so something has got to give in this one. Someone’s streak it set to end, and the bookmakers believe ti will be PAOK who gets vanquished here.
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Chelsea commence their 2018-19 Euro campaign tomorrow night with a trip to Greece, to take on PAOK Salonika. As we’ve already learned, Eden Hazard is apparently rested for this one, so this clash looks like a chance for Blues boss Maurizio Sarri to rotate his squad.
It’s a chance for some fringe players to step up and make an impression on the Italian, and we had that idea top of mind as we composed our projected Chelsea first team to take the pitch at the Toumba Stadium in Salonika.
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The elite, world class form that Eden Hazard displayed during the World Cup for Belgium has carried over to the club level with Chelsea. In 2018, he’s been playing as well as anybody in Europe, and some football observers and pundits have said just that.
However, he won’t be taking his talents to Greece as the Blues commence their 2018-19 European campaign with a Europa League clash at PAOK Salonika tomorrow night.
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Former United winger Memphis Depay is back in Manchester for the first time since he left United nearly two years ago. Depay and his Lyon teammates are set to tussle with Manchester City tonight in a UEFA Champions League group stage game.
Depay acknowledged that he was a flop during his time at Old Trafford, but he also failed to rule out a return to the Red Devils someday. He also said that Manchester is still red; so there you go, now City has their bulletin board material.
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Monday saw Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer hold his first press briefing since he finished serving the three game suspension handed to him by the University. He was suspended due to his mishandling of the domestic abuse allegations leveled against now former assistant coach Zach Smith, who has had a working relationship with Meyer since 2002.
When Meyer took to the podium, he did the same thing that he’s been doing every single time he’s discussed the Zach Smith fiasco- making things worse for himself and his employer- the Ohio State University. Meyer has dug himself a hole, and his way of trying to get out of it is by digging further.
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Tonight saw Liverpool achieve a 3-2 UEFA Champions League group stage win over Paris Saint-Germain, in what was once again a magical night for European football at Anfield. It all ended in very exciting fashion, with a final sequence that inspired debate on social media.
Reds forward Roberto Firmino came back from injury and off the bench to score a game winning goal in injury time, with an eye-catching (pun intended) celebration. When the cameras panned to the Liverpool bench reacting to Firmino’s goal, the response from winger Mo Salah got people talking on social media.
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Roberto Firmino was a doubt entering tonight’s 3-2 UEFA Champions League group stage win over Paris Saint-Germain, but he exited as the headline story. That’s because the Brazilian, who didn’t come on in until the 72′, scored the game winning goal and then stole the show with his post goal celebration, which poked (pun intended) fun at the frightening eye injury he suffered this past weekend.
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With the Cleveland Browns markedly improved in 2018, and thus likely to vacate their traditional spot in the National Football League’s overall basement, who will supplant them as being first overall on the clock come NFL Draft night? There’s a reason that the one movie that was ever made about the NFL Draft centered around the Brownies, but in 2019, they will almost certainly not be picking first.
There are four early contenders to take the top pick, and all of them are franchises that have endured a lot of losing lately. Yes, the NFL is a league where revenue sharing and overall infrastructure invites parity and quick mobility up the standings, but the league has seen remarkable consistency at both ends of the spectrum.
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After bagging a hat trick for Chelsea this past Saturday in a resounding 4-1 win over Cardiff City, Eden Hazard drew heavy praise from his manager Maurizio Sarri, who said the Belgian could score 40 goals this season.
Hazard, who is clearly much better suited to the Sarri system than to the tactics of predecessors Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, is playing at an all world form right now, which has social media users in awe.
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