☀️🌇👋 Good morning and happy Monday team. Ever wonder how far you would go to troll your opponent? Well, in Italy, Inter Milan ultra fans handed out close to 30,000 whistles with the sole purpose of making the most noise every time Romelu Lukaku touches the ball and “giving him hell”. New pettiness level unlocked 🔓. Let’s take a look back at a rivalry filled weekend, shed some light on the kidnapping of Luis Diaz’s parents and highlight a mystery box jersey brand.

Giveaway: We like to reward our supporters, and for our latest giveaway, we’re raffling off a $30 gift card to Miami based soccer jersey store: Golaco Kits. Every time you refer a new reader, you get an entry to the raffle, share us on your Instagram stories for some extra credit too 😉😉

Recap

Weekend Takeaways

🤺🥊Real Madrid vs Barcelona. A moral victory for Barcelona, that’s Xavi’s take on the performance against Madrid this past Saturday. Gundogan scored early on in the 6th minute thanks to unlucky defending from Madrid. Xavi’s men put on a strong 60 minutes, mostly shutting down their rivals from producing much on attack, but then came Bellingham.

Ancelotti’s men are clinical in front of the goal, they don’t need many chances to put a game away. They had 4 total shots on target, and 2 of those were put in the back of the net by Bellingham. Real Madrid will be more than happy to give Xavi his moral victory, as they walk away with a win and sit top of the table.

🚗🚙 United vs City. City walked confidently into Old Trafford on Sunday and were dominant against their eternal rivals. Erling Haaland was the deciding factor in this match, with 2 goals and an assist to lead City to a 3-0 win in enemy territory.

The game could have easily been overshadowed by the penalty decision that was given when Rodri was fouled in the box: penalty or no penalty on this one? You decide. Regardless of the decision, United were unable to capitalize on the opportunities they had, and that’s something they can’t afford, especially against a superior City team.

🙈🚫 Chelsea vs Brentford. This game is one to forget for Chelsea and its fans. Coming off a tough match up against Arsenal and giving up a 2-0 lead, Chelsea would have loved to bounce back and claim 3 points against Brentford this weekend.

Unfortunately for Chelsea, the bounce back game they needed didn’t unfold how they would have hoped, instead it turned into disaster as they lost 2-0, meaning they have only been able to win 1 out of their last 13 home league games. Short term memory is going to be key for the blues as their next three league matchups are against Tottenham, Manchester City and Newcastle.

Goals of The Weekend

▶ Bellingham with a confident strike from outside the box in El Clasico

▶ Hwang Hee-Chan sits down defender with a quick cut back and a goal

▶ Harry Kane scores from his OWN half for Bayern this weekend

▶ Barreal with a beautiful volley for FC Cincinnati against NYRB

World

Luis Diaz’s Parents Kidnapped

✌️ 🕊️ ❤️ Sometimes somethings are bigger than the game. Colombian-Liverpool winger’s Luis Diaz was forced to miss Liverpool’s fixture against Nottingham Forrest in the wake of a terrifying family emergency. Diaz’s parents were kidnapped in Barrancas, Colombia.

Colombian news outlets have reported that Luis Manuel Diaz and Cilenis Marulanda were kidnapped after being stopped by gunmen on motorbikes on Saturday night. The kidnappers arrived on motorcycles, before taking control of the Diaz family van while the family were traveling back to their home neighborhood of Los Olivos.

🚨 👮 🔜 Search & Rescue Police and military forces were urgently deployed to locate the winger’s parents. Colombia President Gustavo Metro confirmed that in “a padlock operation” Diaz’s Mother Cilenis Marulanda has been rescued by police in the city of Barrancas.

However, the Colombia’s police director, General William Salamanca, reported that Diaz’s father Luis Manuel Diaz remains missing with the search still ongoing to locate the father and the assailants, with police, air and military forces involved. Diaz has held talks with General Salamanca urging the safe return of his father, “this is a new experience that I never needed.”

🦸 🤝 👨‍👩‍👦 Luis Diaz Will Never Walk Alone, as Liverpool continue to show their support to their Colombian forward. Hours before their clash against Nottingham Forest, Jurgen Klopp has expressed his concern for Luis Diaz and his family on this worrying situation. Klopp cited late changes in the starting line up omitting Diaz on compassionate grounds after a “tough night”.

⚽️ 🔴 ⚪️ Nottingham at the Anfield; The changes to starting XI allowed Liverpool to muster a convincing 3-0 victory over Nottingham. Their first goal was brought by Diogo Jota, who slotted home a 21st minute opener after USMNT Matt Turner had parried an effort from Darin Nunez.

The Portuguese forward ran towards the Reds Bench with his team-mates and picked up a Diaz No. 7 Liverpool shirt, holding it to the crowd as the Liverpool supporters chanted Diaz’s name in song.

Brands We Love

Highlighting: Mystery Shirt in a Box

 🔮📦 From birthday presents for friends to shipping worldwide. Based out of the UK and founded in 2021, the team at Mystery Shirt in a Box started as a hobby of buying quirky jerseys for friends on their birthdays. They pride themselves in their customer service and ability to customize the customer experience (Saying no to specific teams you don’t want to receive jerseys of).

🚚 👕The Experience. First you let the team know your shirt size, ranging from XS to XXL. Second, you build your order with them- this entails telling them “which teams, leagues or colors you wish to avoid”. That’s it! Their team will hand-pick your mystery jersey and ship it your way. Check out their Instagram for their inventory.

⏭️📈 What's Next? The team at shirt in a box pursues perfection when working on their brand. They understand it will never be perfect, but you should always try to keep improving. Their new products feature “a tee” box as well as “full kit box” which they’re excited to release soon.

Around The Web 🕸️

▶ Hirving Lozano with a hat trick for PSV against Ajax

▶ Fans took it way too far when they attacked Lyon’s bus, injuring the team’s manager

▶ With the goal against Real Madrid, Ilkay Gundogan has now scored in three derbies, the Der Klassiker, the Manchester derby and El Clasico

▶ According to reliable football journalist Fabrizio Romano, Leo Messi is expected to win the Ballon d’Or 2023 tomorrow night in Paris

Tweet of the day: @ProjectFootball

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