17 things we loved this weekend: Firmino, Mertens, Rashford, Messi…
English football geared up for its return this weekend as the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United played friendlies ahead of the Premier League’s restart.
Elsewhere, La Liga returned in Spain and Italy welcomed the resumption of the Coppa Italia.
We’ve rounded up the best of the action on and off the pitch.
Toni Kroos
He makes that look far too easy.
What a BEAUTY from Toni Kroos! 😍
How about that technique from the German? 👏
A perfect start for Madrid ⚪ pic.twitter.com/Pli2Xm6CYZ
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) June 14, 2020
Dries Mertens
The forward has written his name into Napoli’s history books.
Record unlocked 🔓
Dries Mertens has become Napoli's record scorer with 1️⃣2️⃣2️⃣ goals! 👏👏👏
🔥 Counter-attack! pic.twitter.com/WrStbukn3R
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 13, 2020
Can Bozdogan
Spare a thought for that defender.
How's your touch? 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Q50zqZhLkS
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 14, 2020
Marcus Rashford
Has he been watching Dimitar Berbatov?
Now you see him, now you don’t 💨 @MarcusRashford pic.twitter.com/VCenOgWVKE
— utdreport (@utdreport) June 12, 2020
Lucien Favre
We’ve all been there.
Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre injured himself celebrating Erling Haaland's 95th-minute winner 😂 pic.twitter.com/yMLsEidrOM
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 13, 2020
Roberto Firmino
You still can’t get the ball off him.
Si Señor 😍 pic.twitter.com/wjWB1hmGdY
— Liverpool FC (at 🏠) (@LFC) June 13, 2020
Daichi Kamada
Goal of the weekend?
Stop that, Kamada! 🤩
The Japanese international destroyed the Hertha defence there 👏
A tidy finish to match, too! pic.twitter.com/QZDjtPKkv5
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 13, 2020
Lionel Messi
Some things never change.
This nutmeg by Messi 😍😂 pic.twitter.com/YTU0iovbDz
— Sal (@fcb_sal) June 13, 2020
Christian Eriksen
This is what happens when he manages to beat the first man.
Christian Eriksen has just scored directly from a corner 🎯
It's not often you see that!
Inter lead Napoli 1-0 on the night and the scores are level on aggregate. Game on! 👊 pic.twitter.com/24XTeuIAsw
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 13, 2020
Pedro
Wasn’t even sure he had a left foot.
.@_Pedro17_ v Reading at Cobham… 👌 pic.twitter.com/IYhcFk6gwM
— Chelsea FC (at 🏡) (@ChelseaFC) June 13, 2020
Mexico
Thankfully the keeper didn’t save it.
16 year old boy murdered in Mexico. His teammates took him to where they used to play football. And let him score, one last time. Never seen something like this. https://t.co/omrYbiwgOZ
— Alex Stone (@AlexStone7) June 12, 2020
Arsenal
Important words from some of Arsenal’s main men.
Prince William channeling his inner Jorge Mendes and trying to recruit Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for @AVFCOfficial ! More seriously, great work by @KensingtonRoyal and @arsenal on mental health. @HeadsUp pic.twitter.com/TPBWBCpxFb
— Julien Laurens (@LaurensJulien) June 11, 2020
Diego Costa
An excellent gesture.
Diego Costa celebrated by holding up the shirt of Atletico Madrid Femenino player Virginia Torrecilla, who had a brain tumour removed in May 👕pic.twitter.com/jIk4Y2g7qX
— Goal (@goal) June 14, 2020
Serie A
Never change.
Nigel De Jong would be proud of this one 🥋
Ronaldo misses a penalty and 6 seconds later Rebic decides to Kung Fu kick Danilo 😂
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) June 12, 2020
Naby Keita
Will we finally get to see him at his best?
Naby is everywhere 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/YFng9LctNA
— Liverpool FC (at 🏠) (@LFC) June 13, 2020
Martin Braithwaite
A classic Jolly stat.
No players have scored for both Barcelona and Real Madrid in the last decade. Two (Adama Traore and Martin Braithwaite) have scored for both Barcelona and Middlesbrough in that time.
— Richard Jolly (@RichJolly) June 13, 2020
This ref
The Bundesliga’s equivalent to Mike Dean.
Can anyone explain what the ref is doing here? 😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/iOkwMSlYau
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) June 14, 2020
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