Ronaldo Now Head & Shoulders Above Everybody

t feels like a significant moment in the career of any athlete when a particular body part becomes an object of wider public fascination, a emblem of some specific personal superpower. In the early 1980s, for example, it was quite common to hear hushed and reverent talk about Pat Jennings’s hands, to the extent that every few months a picture special would appear in one of the football magazines of a sombre-looking Jennings posed with his palms spread in alarming close-up, thereby reproducing in poster form a haunting snapshot of what it might feel like to find yourself about to be strangled to death by a taciturn but likeable world class goalkeeper.

This week it was Cristiano Ronaldo’s turn to find a little more public attention than usual focussed on some previously overlooked aspect of his physique. With Ronaldo these days it’s all about his neck. And make no mistake, it is one of the great necks: a rippling, flaring, cobra-like thing, broad enough to resemble an auxiliary set of shoulders, and which, when fully extended, has the dual effect of making his head look touchingly small on top of that perma-bronzed pyramid of muscle.

CHELSEA 1 SCHALKE 1: Watch The Goals & Highlihgts

               

Chelsea vs Schalke Match Was My First Match Without Pain - Didier Drogba

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba was not at his very best against Schalke in the Champions League on Wednesday night. The Ivorian bagged his first start since returning to Stamford Bridge but missed a decent chance and failed to show many of the qualities that made him such a star at Chelsea.

Some have questioned whether Jose Mourinho should have started Loic Remy, who scored on his Chelsea debut, considering that Diego Costa was deemed not fully fit for the 1-1 draw with the Bundesliga strugglers.

It's Unfair To Make Mesut Ozil The Scape Goat - Arsene Wenger

​Arsene Wenger says it is unfair that Mesut Ozil has been made a "scapegoat" after Arsenal's 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund. The 25-year-old came in for criticism following Tuesday's loss in the UEFA Champions League, with former Germany captain Michael Ballack describing his performance as "lacklustre".
But ahead of Saturday's trip to Aston Villa, Wenger has come out in defence of Ozil, urging patience with
Arsenal's club-record signing as he looks to regain full fitness following Germany's successful World Cup campaign.

Ozil started all seven games for his country in Brazil, and Wenger believes his exertions at the tournament have affected his early-season form for Arsenal.

BORUSSIA DORTMUND 2 ARSENAL 0: Watch The Goals & Highlights

               

FUNNY!!! Brendan Rodgers Says Champions League Needs Liverpool

Brendan Rodgers insists Liverpool's return to the Champions League is a positive for everyone in the tournament, insisting the competition "needs" the club. Liverpool host Bulgarian side Ludogorets at Anfield on Tuesday in a game that will mark their first Champions League match since 2009 after finishing second in the Premier League last season.

Rodgers is relishing managing the Reds in Europe's elite club competition and, while he is eager to ensure they progress from a group that also contains Basel and Real Madrid, the 41-year-old's main focus is to ensure the club become a regular presence once again.

AMAZING!!! 6 Trophies Each For Real & Atletico Since 2010 Despite A Difference Of €465m Spending

Real Madrid and Atletico have won six trophies apiece since 2010 - despite a vast deficit in budget and spending. Atletico won the Europa League under Quique Sanchez Flores in 2009-2010, also missing out in the final of the Copa del Rey that same season as they lost to Sevilla, before winning the Uefa Super Cup at the beginning of 2010-11. And since then, Diego Simeone has added another Europa League crown (in 2011-2012), another Uefa Super Cup (also in 2012), a Copa del Rey (by beating Madrid in the final at the Santiago Bernabeu in 2012-13) and a Liga title (in 2013-2014).

Madrid, meanwhile, have only just caught up with that tally over the same period. Real won three titles in as many seasons under Jose Mourinho: a Copa del Rey in 2010-11, La Liga in 2011-12 and the Spanish Supercopa in 2012-13. His successor, Carlo Ancelotti, has also accumulated three trophies, albeit in less time, after claiming the Copa del Rey and the Champions League (defeating Atletico in the latter last May) in his debut season, before adding the Uefa Super Cup just last week with victory over Sevilla.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : Ronaldo, Benzema Ok For UCL Final'

Real Madrid forwards Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema have not suffered serious injuries and should be fit for next Saturday's Champions League final against Atletico Madrid, coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

Alarm bells rang after Ronaldo, Real's top scorer, apparently hurt himself in the warm-up before Saturday's La Liga game at home to Espanyol but Ancelotti said it was nothing to be concerned about and the Portugal captain had merely been rested as a precaution.