Cristiano Ronaldo has been named The Best FIFA Men s Player for 2016, beating Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann to the honour.
The Real Madrid forward added to his victory in the Ballon d Or with another individual triumph at Monday s ceremony in Zurich.
It caps a superb year for Ronaldo, who also won the Champions League and Club World Cup with Madrid, as well as Euro 2016 with Portugal.
But is Ronaldo really performing better than his rivals?
With the help of Opta data, we compare his club statistics from the start of the 2016-17 season to see if his trajectory points towards another individual accolade next year as the race for 2017 s top honours begins.
GOALS
After scoring 51 times in 48 appearances at club level last season, Ronaldo has…
Pep Guardiola knows the fate of the Premier League title race is in Manchester City s hands, as he urged his players to leave nothing to chance.
City head into the final day of the season in pole position, two points ahead of Arsenal and on the brink of an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title.
Guardiola s team will be champions again if they beat West Ham at home. They could still win the league with a draw, but only if Arsenal fail to beat Everton.
And Guardiola s message to his team was a clear one.
At that moment, the destiny is in our hands, he said. But if you are waiting for [Arsenal] to drop points again, you are wrong.
If you were thinking Arsenal were going to lose at Old Trafford [against Manchester United] forget about i…
Lionel Messi will make his first start of the 2019-20 season after being named in Barcelona s team to face Villarreal.
A calf injury kept Messi out of action in the early weeks of the campaign, though he came off the bench against Granada on Saturday.
Barca lost that match 2-0 and have made their worst start to a LaLiga season for 25 years as a result, taking seven points from five games.
Under pressure coach Ernesto Valverde has responded by thrusting Messi into his starting line-up, the captain replacing Carles Perez in Barca s front three.
XI
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat)
Messi crowned FIFA s Best Men s Player on Monday will make his 400th LaLiga start for Barca and he becomes only the second non-Spanish player, after Don…
Roma came from behind to secure an important 3-1 Serie A victory over Chievo in their final match of 2016 on Thursday.
Jonathan de Guzman opened the scoring on 37 minutes but Stephan El Shaarawy levelled in first-half injury time with a fine free-kick.
Edin Dzeko converted from close range after the break before Diego Perotti s late penalty completed the turnaround and ensured Roma finish the calendar year in second place in the table, four points behind leaders Juventus, who have played a game less.
Bruno Peres struck the post with a free-kick in a strong opening half-hour from Luciano Spalletti s side but they were stunned when De Guzman who bizarrely wears the number one shirt headed in Mariano Izco s cross to put Chievo ahead.
The Stadio Olimpico was …
The UEFA Champions League, the most popular club football competition, has been growing in global popularity over the past few years.
Despite the rise in global awareness of the competition, Europe s top football club s, who are regular participants in the Champions League, having been losing money faster than Usain Bolt can run 100 meters.
According to UEFA s 2010 club licensing report, which has just been released, Europe s top clubs lost about €1.6 billion in 2010.
“Net losses have increased in European football every year since 2006, said UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino.
Income has grown but so have losses.
“In two years from 2008 to 2010 net losses have increased by €1bn. In 2006 losses were just €216m.
…
Joao Cancelo is hoping to guide Portugal to their second European Championship crown in what will be his first appearance at the tournament.
The 30-year-old, who spent the 2023-24 season on loan with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, was forced to miss Euro 2020 after testing positive for Coronavirus.
Cancelo was replaced in the squad by Diogo Dalot, but featured at his first major tournament for the Selecao at the World Cup in Qatar two years ago.
Portugal start their group campaign in Leipzig against Czechia on Tuesday, and the defender is looking to make up for a lost opportunity in Germany this time around.
“It was unfair, because I had a great season, I felt like I should have been there but life didn t want it that way,” said Cancelo.
�…
The Los Angeles Rams just staked their spot atop the NFC food chain, taking a big bite out of the defending Super Bowl champs to move to 3-0 last Sunday. Los Angeles stays home for a key NFC West war with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Bookies opened L.A. as big as 6-point NFL betting chalk at home but early money on Arizona chipped that spread down to -5.5 then forced a heavy move to -4.5 Tuesday afternoon. The Cardinals are also undefeated, behind an offense scoring a league-high 34.3 points per game.
Here are our NFL free picks and predictions for Cardinals at Rams on October 3.
…
Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals have surprised most NFL fans outside the state of Ohio by making it to the AFC Championship Game. But after wins over the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tennessee Titans things get a little tougher this week.
Now, they face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who are trying to advance to the Super Bowl for the third straight season.
This is a matchup of two of the best offenses in the NFL, so you know there are plenty of betting options in the player prop market. Find out in our favorite free player props and predictions for the Bills vs. Chiefs in the AFC Championship.
…
Critics have doubted Josh Allen at times this season, but the Buffalo Bills QB ended 2022 on a tear then put up a huge game against the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card round. Now, he gets to face another shaky passing defense when the Bills host the Cincinnati Bengals in the Divisional Round on Sunday.
You could have questioned how efficient Allen was last weekend but there’s no doubting his final numbers, including three touchdowns and 352 yards passing. That’s the kind of production that always hits the Over on prop bets.
Win or lose, Buffalo will let Allen throw the ball and attack on offense this weekend. I’ll be targeting the Bills quarterback across the board in my free NFL picks below. For more, check out our Bengals vs. Bills picks an…
Halloween is on the way, which means it’s horror movie season. But if you think those flicks are scary, consider the Cleveland Browns’ quarterback situation heading into Week 6’s home stand with the San Francisco 49ers.
QB Deshaun Watson has been ruled out with a shoulder injury and so it’s now up to backup P.J. Walker to face a San Francisco defense ranked near the top of most statistical evaluations.
It’s a situation that’s spooked the NFL odds enough to move Cleveland from a 5-point home underdog to a +10.5 point pup.
Let’s size up the spread and Over/Under total for this Week 6 odds clash as I give my best NFL picks for 49ers vs. Browns on October 15.