Karim Benzema moved into fifth place on the Champions League’s all-time scoring list by netting his 51st goal to bring Real Madrid level with Napoli on Wednesday.
The goal moves him past Arsenal legend Thierry Henry on the all-time scorer’s list, as Benzema also took sole possession of first place for goals scored by a Frenchman in the competition.
Just over 10 minutes after Napoli grabbed the lead courtesy of Lorenzo Insigne’s stunning long-range strike, Benzema brought the hosts level when he got on the end of Dani Carvajal’s cross into the box before delivering a powerful header.
3 – Karim Benzema has scored more headed goals than any other player in #UCL this season. Roar. pic.twitter.com/sQCRE0TcRY
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 15, 2017
Benzema had a chance to give Real the lead before halftime, but his effort smacked off the post.
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Sean McVay’s message to Kyle Shanahan when he accepted his first head-coaching job: “I can’t tell you how happy I am for you, but I can’t believe I’ve got to see you twice a year now.”
The long-standing rivalry between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, often-times intense during the Rams’ original stint in Southern California, now has a compelling new twist: McVay, whose grandfather was part of five Super Bowl titles as a 49ers executive, is the Rams’ new head coach. Shanahan, initially deemed a favorite for the Rams’ vacant post, is the 49ers’ new head coach.
Rams coach Sean McVay said that new 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan had a strong influence on his offensive beliefs. Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images
And, of course, they have history.
Shanahan was the Redskins’ offensive coordinator from 2010-13, while his father, Mike Shanahan, served as head coach. McVay coached tight ends during that four-year stretch, then replaced Shanahan as offensive coordinator after he departed for the Browns.
“Kyle is a guy who’s had a tremendous influence on some of the things I believe in offensively,” McVay said. “He’s a great coach, and I wish him nothing but the best for 14 games — except for those two next year.”
The 49ers won only two games under Chip Kelly in 2016, but both of those wins came against the 4-12 Rams that were led by Jeff Fisher. They embarrassed the Rams, 28-0, during the Monday Night Football opener from Levi’s Stadium, then came from behind to hand them a 22-21 loss at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the second-to-last game of the regular season.
The Rams felt they had their guy and didn’t really care to wait, but only time will tell if they made the right decision.
The Rams and 49ers finished first or second 11 times from 1970-89. But that seems like a lifetime ago. They’ve been the two worst teams in the NFC West each of the past three years, and it’ll be up to McVay and Shanahan, two of the game’s sharpest offensive minds, to turn their respective fortunes around.
Shanahan, who accepted the job immediately after the Falcons’ devastating loss to the Patriots in Super Bowl LI, is six years older than McVay, who, at 31, is the youngest coach in the NFL’s modern era.
The Grudens, Jon and Jay, were major influences on McVay — but so were the Shanahans.
“We’re all a product of our experiences,” McVay said. “Certainly Kyle and Coach Shanahan’s offense has had a big influence on what I believe and how I think you want to attack a defense. But it’s going to be something that’s going to be an ongoing process, figuring out our players first and then how we fit that scheme to their skill sets.”
The European Championship could take place in a country straddling Europe and Asia.
On Wednesday, the Turkiye Futbol Federasyonu announced that Turkey is bidding to host Euro 2024. An information meeting was held at the TFF’s administrative center in Beykoz, Turkey, and the organisations’s president, Yildirim Demiroren, confirmed the bid.
“We deserve to be the host of Euro 2024,” Demiroren said. “Today we came together for a good job on behalf of Turkish football. We are together for Euro 2024 bid, which we have already applied for three times today, for the fourth time. The deadline for candidacy application is March 3, 2017 which we will apply on March 2, 2017.”
In 2014, the TFF dropped its bid to host the final and semi-finals of Euro 2020, which will take place in 13 different countries across Europe. The federation was convinced Turkey is ready to host more than just two rounds, saying, per ESPN FC: “We are at a point where we can undertake the entire tournament, not just the semi-finals and final.”
There will inevitably be questions about Turkey’s ability to host Euro 2024, as the country – once held as an example of secular democracy in a Muslim state – is the “world’s biggest prison” for journalists under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who became the nation’s president in 2014 and tightened the grip on freedom of expression.
The Philadelphia Eagles have two things Kenny Britt values: a potential franchise quarterback and receivers coach Mike Groh. That should make Philly a desirable landing spot should the stars align come March.
Every receiver wants a quality quarterback for obvious reasons, but that desire can be heightened when stability at QB has proved elusive. Since being drafted in the first round by the Tennessee Titans back in 2009, Britt has been teamed with Vince Young, Kerry Collins (in his late 30s), Rusty Smith, Matt Hasselbeck, Jake Locker, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Austin Davis, Shaun Hill, Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Jared Goff.
Kenny Britt is coming off a career-high 1,002 receiving yards in 2016 with the Rams. Michael Reaves/Getty Images
Safe to say, the idea of locking in with a long-term (and perhaps top-end) signal-caller would be appealing to the eight-year veteran.
He is scheduled to become a free agent when the league year begins March 9, and could very well be moving on from the Rams. A decent market likely awaits.
Whether the Eagles jump into the fray remains to be seen. There’s no doubt they’ll be on the lookout for a wideout who can take the top off an opposing defense, which is part of the reason why Kenny Stills and DeSean Jackson have been regularly connected to Philly; Britt has some speed (he ran a 4.5-second 40 coming out of Rutgers) but at 6-foot-3, 223 pounds, he has a different style of play than the burners. Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas, though, sounds open to receivers of varying skill sets.
Douglas & Co. have to do their homework on Britt, who had legal troubles earlier in his career. Groh could be a resource in that respect, having worked with Britt very recently. Depending on their comfort level and how Britt compares to the rest of the class from a production-versus-cost standpoint, he could be a player on the Eagles’ radar as the free-agency period approaches.
Money typically talks in these situations, but if it’s close, the Eagles have enough of what Britt wants to win a potential tiebreaker.
