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Let’s all laugh at Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini for getting banned from soccer
Today is a good day.
Philipp Schmidli/Getty Images
It appears that we've finally got rid of Sepp Blatter and one of his top cronies. The FIFA president got suspended for eight years on Monday, along with UEFA president Michel Platini.
Unsurprisingly, they’re not taking this lying down. Platini says he’ll appeal until he can appeal no longer, and then sue for damages when he’s proven to have done nothing wrong. Blatter compared himself to Nelson Mandela and quoted Terminator.
Red card of the day
Felipe Melo doing Felipe Melo things. Look at this axe kick! (r/soccer)
In the news
Pep Guardiola will not renew his contract at Bayern Munich. Carlo Ancelotti will replace him. (Bavarian Football Works)
River Plate fans insulted and spat at Lionel Messi after the Club World Cup final. (AS)
Manchester United are going to fire Louis van Gaal if he loses again. (Independent)
And they’re thinking about replacing him with Jose Mourinho. (ESPN FC)
Mourinho told his players they betrayed him to their faces before his amazing TV rant. (Mirror)
Apparently Diego Costa did everything he could to get back in Mourinho’s good graces. (Times)
Like Bulgarian champs Ludogorets threatened to do, Zamalek quit Egyptian football over bad officiating. (BBC)
David Beckham wants to sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his Miami MLS club. (Guardian)
Hannover manager Michael Frontzeck has resigned. (Bundesliga)
Rafa Marquez has left Hellas Verona to return to Atlas. (Football Italia)
You should be reading
Paolo Bandini on Empoli’s incredible run in Serie A. (Guardian)
Thore Haugstad on Helenio Herrera’s legacy. (These Football Times)
James Yorke on the stats behind this weekend’s Premier League stories. (Stats Bomb)
What happened this weekend
Here’s a recap of Saturday’s Premier League action, which featured Manchester United being very bad.
On Sunday, Liverpool got trucked by Watford. (Liverpool Offside)
Real Madrid started awfully against Rayo. Then they scored 10 goals. (Managing Madrid)
Barcelona won an inevitable world championship. (Barca Blaugranes)
Juventus won again, though it wasn’t easy. (Black and White and Read All Over)
Inter Milan lost, meaning Italy’s top five are separated by four points. (Inter Offside)
What to watch on Monday (click for listings, all times ET)
Premier League: Arsenal vs. Manchester City (3 p.m.) -- These are the two very clear title favorites. Watch it.
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