TheUNInterrupted:A Sports Odyssey

              As the Champions League group stage draw was underway and Petr Cech was reaching his languid hands into the bowl to retrieve each plastic ball, every Barcelona fan knew damn well that the group we'd be forced to deal with would be harder than anyone else's in the competition.                Ever since Barcelona won the Champions League over Manchester United (for the first time) in 2009, we've been given difficult groups and marquee Round of 16 matchups, frequently against English clubs.                I've always wondered if teams like Wenger's Arsenal, Premier League Champions to Europa League Champions Chelsea FC or even Bayern Munich had been condemned to play in some of the groups we'd been drawn into over the years, would they have even advanced half of the time?               Well well well, once again, the Cata...

                 It was beautiful: due to a litany of injuries, Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde threw on the right XI AND because of this, Barcelona obliterated an opponent in another commanding 5-2 display at the Camp Nou.          The headlines will all be about 16 year old La Masia educated Ansu Fati scoring an illustrious goal  and delivering an extremely sick assist within only 7 minutes of his first Barcelona start, as it should well be. The kid is fantastic, a true specimen that is only climbing ever higher and may deserve a start on Tuesday.          But the real meat of the story is the Barca midfield .          The midfield trio of Busquets, De Jong and Arthur passed and pressed with equal flair, beauty and finesse, gaining confidence by the touch. It's obvious how ludicrous the Barca fans who criticised Sergio Busquets are and were after th...

ASSISTKINGS QUARTERLY VOL. 2 WE BEGIN AGAIN WITH VOLUME II: WE BRING TO YOU, AS WE ALWAYS DO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL,  THE MOST ESSENTIAL AND THE SIMPLY REVERENTIAL  10. ROBERTO FIRMINO (Liverpool) -2 assists -CHANCES CREATED  -TOTAL: 6  -AVG: 1.3 -Key Passes Off Post: 0 -UDGC: 1                The Brazilian #9 wasn't at his best for most of the Liverpool v Arsenal match, though it was his deliciously cushioned pass into Mohamed Salah, following a Trent Alexander-Arnold punt into the box, which created the penalty for Liverpool's 2nd goal.              Firmino's volleyed pass was so irresistible and had set Salah free in such clear space, the ball forced Arsenal's new signing David Luiz to halt a tap-in by ripping his former Chelsea teammate's kit off his back, taking the yellow card and forcing the Egyptian to earn the goal at the penalty spot (a cynical, though t...