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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 4, 2026

Pep Guardiola threatened to ‘rip his players’ balls off’ if they didn’t beat Juventus

An unorthodox motivational tactic, but it worked.

Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

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Bayern Munich beat Juventus in dramatic fashion on Wednesday, coming from two goals down to win in extra time. Before the added period, Pep Guardiola could be seen giving a fiery speech to his players, and Thomas Müller revealed what his manager said.

“He told us that he’d cut our balls off,” said Müller. “Of course, there are a lot of emotions. I wouldn’t be any different as a coach. We wanted to play for the third goal, because we still had energy left in us.”

Well ... it worked.

Goal of the day

Even though Juve lost, Álvaro Morata to Juan Cuadrado was the best goal in the tie.

In the news

Here’s the England squad, featuring Danny Drinkwater. (@England)

Harry Redknapp is going to take temporary charge of Jordan. (BBC)

PSV Eindhoven are trying to find the fans who humiliated people who were asking for money in Madrid. (Guardian)

Go team coefficient! The Premier League won’t lose any European spots to Serie A. (Mirror)

You should be reading

Kristan Heneage on Gideon Baah’s strange journey to MLS. (Guardian)

Steve Price on Suwon Bluewings and other K-League clubs’ struggle to become self-sustaining. (These Football Times)

Kieron O’Connor on Liverpool’s finances. (Swiss Ramble)

What happened on Wednesday

Here’s what we learned from Bayern’s win over Juve.

And questions we have after Barcelona beat Arsenal.

What to watch on Thursday (all times ET, click for listings)

Europa League: 8 games (from 2 p.m.) -- Pick your favorite team/league.

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