Cristiano Ronaldo had a hand in all three Juventus goals
Cristiano Ronaldo had a hand in all three goals as Juventus continued their perfect start to the Serie A season with a 3-1 victory over Napoli.
Carlo Ancelotti’s first trip to his former club got off to a promising start when Jose Callejon volleyed for Dries Mertens to open the scoring after 10 minutes.
But Ronaldo set up Mario Mandzukic to head in the equaliser after 26 minutes.
The momentum then swung to Juventus, with Ronaldo looking destined to score but the ball bounced off the left post and into the path of Mandzukic, who tapped in his second four minutes after the break.
Napoli were a man down after left-back Mario Rui was sent off after
ROME — On the day before the Rome Derby, in which AS Roma beat Lazio 3-1 on a viciously hot afternoon, I met Luciano Rossi and his son at a restaurant near the Roma training facility. A lot of people from the club come here for lunch, including Francesco Totti, now retired but still the most beloved living Roman. Both Rossi men are Roma official team photographers, and their roots in this city stretch back at least seven generations. Luciano’s family comes from Trastevere, the old neighborhood south of the Vatican, and he feels, in his heart, more connected to his city than his country.
Luciano often gets asked whether he’s Italian when traveling overseas with the team and someone hears his accent.
“No,” he will reply. “We are from Rome!”
That’s what was on display Saturday, and why Italian football so easily finds its way into your blood. Italy is a very young country and a relatively new idea. Its cities, however, are very old, many of them former city-states with their own history and mythology — their own food and wars won and lost and a unique way of defining what it means to be a citizen. When their football teams play, ancient things get ripped out of the past and put on public display.
In Rome, that’s only heightened.
This sounds silly, but it’s always startling to be driving around the city to meet someone for something as modern as a meeting or a cocktail and just pass the spot where Julius Caesar was stabbed, or make a right at the Coliseum.
No big deal.
It’s just the f—ing Coliseum!
Rome conquered the world, rose and fell, and nearly everything that has happened in the city since flows from that identity.
Especially the football culture.
Inside the city, most people are traditionally fans of Roma, and in the suburbs and outskirts, more people support Lazio. Family plays a role, maybe more now than geography. Like everything in Italian life, politics play an important role. Roma’s ultras are left-wingers, and Lazio’s ultras have deep roots in Italy’s fascist history.
A year ago, to mock a pregame celebration honoring Anne F
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri believes Cristiano Ronaldo had his best game so far for the Serie A giants after starring in their 3-1 victory over title rivals Napoli on Saturday.
Ronaldo grabbed two assists and Allegri claimed after the game that the Real Madrid forward’s performance was probably his best so far in Italy’s top flight.
MARCO BERTORELLO/GettyImages
He told Sky Sport Italia as quoted by Goal: “Cristiano Ronaldo? He did very well today and he created many clear cut chances for us.
Han pasado casi 10 años desde que Cristiano Ronaldo abandonó la disciplina del Manchester United. Sin embargo, aún no ha habido un heredero que medianamente esté a la altura del crack portugués.
Lo cierto es que el dorsal número 7 no es cualquiera en el club inglés y algunos de los mejores jugadores de la historia del club, como Beckham, Cantona o Best han lucido la mítica camiseta.
El primero en portar el dorsal fue Michael Owen, que fichó unas pocas semanas después por el club después tras la marcha de Ronaldo. El inglés tenía el rol de delantero suplente, pero su aportación fue pobre, muy pobre y en sus 3 temporadas apenar marcó goles. En Premier League, solo hizo 5 en 31 partidos.
El siguiente en llevarlo fue Antonio Valencia, cuando aún jugaba de extremo. El ecuatoriano, que sigue en la plantilla, solo lo llevó una temporada, la 12/13, y es el único que ha “dignificado” el dorsal en este tiempo. Solo marco un gol en 31 partidos, pero tampoco esa era su labor.
El pasado lunes, el volante del Real Madrid, Luka Modric fue galardonado con el premio The Best de la FIFA a mejor jugador de la temporada.
Sin embargo, alrededor del mundo hay miles de aficionados, jugadores y técnicos que no están de acuerdo con la elección del croata ya que consideran que tanto Cristiano Ronaldo como Lionel Messi deberían ganar el premio todos los años.
Uno que tenía este tipo de mentalidad es el técnico del Napoli, Carlo Ancelotti aunque este año el volante parece haber convencido al italiano tras la buena participación en la Copa del Mundo.
After scoring his first goal of the season against Bologna on Wednesday, Paulo Dybala insisted that it is the efforts of the whole team that has seen them secure seven consecutive wins in all competitions, not just one man.
It has been a frustrating start to the campaign for the Argentina international, with some supporters questioning whether or not he will fit into the team since the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, but he had nothing but positive things to say about the high-profile summer signing.
The 2-0 victory left the 24-year-old striker in high spirits as he heaped praise on Ronaldo after the match, saying: “With Cristiano, there’s enthusiasm. We’re doing well
El Comité de Disciplina de la UEFA se reunió en el día de hoy para decidir la sanción impuesta a Cristiano Ronaldo tras su expulsión contra el Valencia en la primera jornada de la fase de grupos de la Champions League.
En su debut en la máxima competición internacional con la Juventus, el atacante luso fue expulsado por primera vez en Champions League en su carrera por propinarle un golpe
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended for just one Champions League game as a result of his card against Valencia earlier this month after the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Board decided not to extend his ban beyond the usual length.
Ronaldo was controversially sent off following an aggressive coming together with Valencia defender Jeison Murillo. Many believed his dismissal to be harsh but UEFA offers no right of appeal against yellow and red cards except in cases of mistaken identity.
19 review – triumphant update brings fun and fantasy to the fore
The FIFA series has been adhering to one clear philosophy over the past two decades. Let’s call it “Hollywood authenticity”. Matches look and feel realistic, the animation is astonishingly accurate, the presentation has all the swooshing graphic wizardry we’ve come to expect in the Sky TV era. Squint and you can almost imagine you’re watching a real game.
Yet beneath those overhead kicks that rocket into the top corner, those last-minute goals from set pieces, every match feels somehow authored – as if, hidden away somewhere and secretly controlling every action is a sinister cabal of Roy of the Rovers writers.
But that’s OK, because playing FIFA 19 is a joy: the control, the fluidity, the sense of possibility from every graceful character animation. More so than the last few instalments, the action is balletic and refined. A boost of speed, a well-timed pass, a shimmy to the left, and the pitch opens up like a theatrical stage. It’s thrilling. At the same time, tackling is hard, there’s more uncertainty to 50/50 balls (you can actually win some above the professional skill level), and there’s a nice sturdy physics engine which means overhit passes and ricocheting balls can often act unpredictably, spinning off your player’s shin, however skilled he or she may be.
Outfield play is open and when you get into the penalty area, you find that shooting has been tweaked too. Now there is the chance to make a well-timed second tap of the shoot button to launch a more decisive strike. It’s tough to get right .Most of the time you’ll want to just go with a basic blast-and-hope approach, but it’s important for FIFA to keep providing more options in front of goal, especially with the ever-improving AI of defenders.
Signature move … Neymar in FIFA 19. Photograph: EA Sports
From these intertwining systems of physics, animation and attacking scope, great
It’s the end of September and that means only one thing in video games: It’s time for the latest version of the FIFA franchise to hit our consoles and keep us occupied through the grim, snowy misery of winter.
FIFA 19 hits the stores/internet/whatever this Friday, a run that began with the first pixels hitting our Segas in 16-bit glory back in 1993.
Like those versions that came before, FIFA 19 is great fun. It’s enhanced in subtle ways that move the game ever closer to realism but with enough familiarity that you can pick up a controller and dive right in without feeling bewildered. The inclusion of the Chinese Super League means you’re now able to control the litany of stars who went there for astronomical sums over the past season or two. (Here’s lookin’ at you, Ezequiel Lavezzi.) Yet the Russian Premier League has vanished, leaving behind just CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Spartak Moscow. You can’t have it all.
Popular story mode The Journey has been enhanced and expanded to give you more opportunities to impact the future of not just Alex Hunter, as he moves to Real Madrid, but his younger sister (a budding U.S. national team striker) and his best friend from the academy days as he tries to establish himself in the Premier League. The pathways are more complicated for all three interconnected leads, making it a more immersive way to play the game than just league or tournament modes.
Another big add was a reinvention of the passing, ball control and shooting mechanics to leave more room for mastery and improvement that might set a seasoned player apart from a novice.
Finally, the officially licensed presence of UEFA’s flagship competitions, the Champions League and the Europa League, is a delight. Each tournament mode carries the branded style right down to the typeface, score chyrons, the match ball and, yes, the official chaaaaaampioooooooons pre-game theme song is in here too. (The first time you play a CL fixture, you can’t seem to skip ahead beyond the song so I hope you like it as much as I do.)
Consider this your official guide to all the nuances, changes, highs and lows. Oh, and it’s great fun: If you’re a super-fan of the FIFA franchise, it will tick all the boxes in your heart and keep the controller in your hands until the FIFA 20 demo drops next September. There’s just enough enhancement and refinement to give life to a very familiar and comforting series.
The Top 10 in the game
10. Toni Kroos, CM, Real Madrid (last year: 9) 9. David De Gea, GK, Man United (11) 8. Luis Suarez, ST, Barcelona (4) 7. Sergio Ramos, CB, Real Madrid (7) 6. Eden Hazard, LW, Chelsea (8) 5. Kevin De Bruyne, CAM, Manchester City (15) 4. Luka Modric, CM, Real Madrid (12) 3. Neymar, LW, Paris Saint-Germain (3) 2. Lionel Messi, CF, Barcelona (2) 1. Cristiano Ronaldo, ST, Juventus (1)
Whether playing a franchise mode or starting a FIFA Ultimate Teams (FUT) dynasty worthy of winning real-life tournaments, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got at least one or two of the above. The ranking has changed a lot in the past year, with two players in particular soaring up the charts: Luka Modric, who’s currently winning all the individual awards following a spectacular 12 months for club and country, and Kevin De Bruyne, who grew into his fullest potential as the fulcrum for Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering and record-smashing City side in the Premier League.
The top three remain the same, though one has to wonder: Didn’t Kylian Mbappe or Mo Salah do enough to crack the top 10? (They’re ranked 42nd and 27th, respectively.)
The pass masters
Best passers:Kevin De Bruyne, CAM, Manchester City (92). Luka Modric, CM, Real Madrid (90). Toni Kroos, CM, Real Madrid; Christian Eriksen, CAM, Tottenham (89). Six players, including Lionel Messi, on 88.
Worst passers:Wang Yaopeng, CB, Dalian Yifang; George Ray, CB, Crewe Alexandra; Yoshiaki Fujita, CB, Jubilo Iwata (24). Chen Weiming, CB, Guangzhou R&F (25). Four players tied on 26.
