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**reexx** · Apr 28th 2020

Tuesday 28/04/2020 CEST(GMT/UTC +2)

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**reexx** · Apr 29th 2020

Wednesday 29/04/2020 CEST(GMT/UTC +2)

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**reexx** · May 2nd 2020

Saturday 02/05/2020 CEST(GMT/UTC +2)

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**reexx** · May 3rd 2020

Sunday 03/05/2020 CEST(GMT/UTC +2)

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**reexx** · May 5th 2020

Tuesday 05/05/2020 CEST(GMT/UTC +2)

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Brazilian striker helped Manchester City to memorable Champions League victory over Real Madrid when Covid-19 pandemic halted football

Gabriel Jesus believes he was playing some of the best football of his career just before the coronavirus pandemic shut down the game.

The Manchester City striker has been battling club legend Sergio Aguero for a regular starting position since he moved to the Etihad Stadium from Palmeiras three years ago.

Jesus was a surprise starter ahead of Aguero in the Champions League clash with Real Madrid and scored the equaliser in a 2-1 victory as City produced arguably their best ever result in the competition.

“I think I have had a good streak, good minutes on the pitch, I started in some important matches, such as against Real Madrid in the Champions League,” the 23-year-old told Goal . “It helps any player to perform better, play more, be happy. I think I had one of my best moments for City before the break.

“Pep [Guardiola] usually does this; sometimes I play the cup games and 'Kun' the Premier League or the opposite. So when I knew I was going to play I saw it naturally.

“Of course I was happy, every player dreams of playing in a match of this magnitude, against Real at the Bernabeu. I’m glad it went well, I helped the team and we managed to win.”

Jesus has admitted to being tough on himself in the past, particularly when going through a goalscoring drought. After moving to England as a teenager, he now believes he can cope better with the tougher times in his career.

“It is a process of maturation, of evolution as a person and as a player,” the Brazilian said. “I went through a very difficult period in my short career, but I managed to get back to doing what I liked most, being happy again.

“Having my family and friends close also helped me a lot at the time, and then I started to live a very positive sequence that lasts until today.”

Guardiola went for an adventurous system in Madrid, starting without a central striker, with Jesus playing primarily in the left wing position and cutting inside when City were on the attack.

The system worked well and Jesus says he is happy to fit in with whatever the City boss demands.

“I always played as a side striker who enters the area a lot, since Palmeiras I've been like that and I feel very good and comfortable acting like that,” he added.

“Of course I also play as a reference in the attack, more tucked inside the area, without any problem and I'm also used to it. But my position was always acting from the side.”

**reexx** · May 7th 2020

Thursday 07/05/2020 CEST(GMT/UTC +2)

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Forget the World Cup: The Ballon d’Or is becoming football’s most coveted trophy

The battle for the game's most prestigious individual honour is only likely to intensify in the future, given the elevated status it allows the winner

The race to win the 2020 Ballon d’Or promises to be the strangest yet. As Covid-19 continues to play havoc with the sporting calendar, the amount of football that will be played between now and the end of the year remains up in the air, though it will certainly amount to less than what was expected back in January.

Gone are the European Championship and Copa America. So, too, the Olympics, which could have offered the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Sergio Ramos a chance of a gold medal should their wishes of being selected by France and Spain, respectively, been granted.

The Champions League and Europa League, meanwhile, seem increasingly unlikely to resume, given the issues that come with travelling between countries amid a pandemic. That would leave just domestic football and the handful of European games that took place before the worldwide shutdown on which to judge the best performer of the past 12 months.

Of course, with millions still succumbing to the coronavirus across the globe, debates over the potential winners of individual sporting accolades have taken a backseat. Given the global situation and the lack of football being played, it is not even a certainty that the Ballon d’Or, or any similar prize, will even be awarded in 2020.

However, when the world does eventually return to something much closer to normality, expect social media to once again be awash with supporters claiming their favourite player is deserving of recognition while playing down the achievements of others who could challenge them.

“How about selecting the candidates for next year's Ballon d'Or via Facebook?” asked then-Bayern Munich captain Phillip Lahm when speaking to Goal in 2016. “That would be a modern way of doing it. And the result would probably be the same!”

It is a phenomenon that has arisen during a period in which winning the Ballon d’Or has become something of a closed shop, reserved for just two players who will be regarded among the greatest to ever play the game upon their retirements.

Since 2008, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have won 11 of the 12 Ballons d’Or between them, with only Luka Modric in 2018 able to break their duopoly. For all the toing and froing that generally precedes the presenting of the award, for over a decade picking a winner has almost always involved selecting between an Argentine artist and a Portuguese powerhouse.

“With those players, we've had the two best players of the 21st century,” Pascal Ferre, the editor-in-chief of France Football, who oversee the Ballon d’Or voting process, told Bleacher Report. “Like all great champions, they don't accept second place. They've fought mano-a-mano for 10 years and France Football has benefitted.”

Ronaldo and Messi’s rivalry, coupled with the rise of social media and increased sponsorship opportunities for the world’s best players, means that football is entering an era in which the individual rules. Gone are the days of winning the World Cup being regarded by young players as the pinnacle of their potential careers. Now, the ultimate goal is to be summoned to the stage at an increasingly glamourous awards show in Paris to collect a very different trophy.