(blog.paddypower.com)

Paddy Power have reaffirmed their reputation as the undisputed Kings of Generating Publicity With Controversial Billboards this week with a new effort outside Liverpool's Lime Station.

The Irish bookmaker used a 100-ft digital screen in central Liverpool to imply that an incredibly average Premier League season for Brendan Rogers' side has actually been a good one. This is because Margaret Thatcher has died (she's hated at Anfield for her disregard for fans involved in the Heysel Disaster and her alleged obstruction of justice after the Hillsborough Disaster) and Manchester Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson has retired (try to guess why they are happy about this).

AS Roma missed the chance to move up to fourth in Serie A after a 1-0 home defeat to Chievo on Tuesday. The result is particularly disappointing for i Giallorossi, as they enjoyed over two thirds of the possession and club legend Daniele De Rossi pulled off a career-defining piece of simulation.

As De Rossi argued with the referee about a corner kick near the end of the first half, Chievo defender Dario Dainelli appeared to lightly step on De Rossi's foot. The World Cup-winning midfielder then used Dainelli to launch himself to the ground and proceeded to roll around as if his baffled opponent had just shattered his ankle.

Quite how De Rossi thought he could pull off such theatrics right in front of the referee is anyone's guess, but the man in black's body language suggests he isn't too impressed.

H/T: 101GG

(Getty/Yahoo! composite)

With his beautiful singing voice and love of obnoxiously large jewellery, it was only a matter of time before Neymar caught the attention of a hip hop superstar like Jay-Z.

The headline may have led you to believe that the rapper is starting his own football team, but he is actually expanding a sports branch of his Roc Nation entertainment company. Reports in Brazil say Neymar has been selected as one of the latest sports stars to join the Jigga Man's team. Translated from Spanish newspaper Sport:

"Roc Nation" is creating a segment focused on sports and the idea of its creators is to transform players into real stars with global impact and visibility, which is why Santos player Neymar ​​is one of the priority sports to be "signed to" by the entertainment company.

The report also states that Jay-Z is also aiming to bring the Brazilian talents of PSG's Lucas Moura and Internacional's Leandro Damião to the Roc Nation family.

If Jay is serious about signing Neymar, however, he'll almost

Lokeren's visit to Club Brugge in the Belgian Pro League on Sunday was barely five minutes old when goalkeeper Boubacar Barry dived to save a shot from Colombian striker Carlos Bacca and hit his head on the goalpost. The Ivorian was out cold for a couple of minutes but was stirring when paramedics stretchered him from the field.

According to Belgian news site Knack.be, Barry suffered a concussion but was later discharged from hospital. He was replaced between the sticks by his Serbian understudy Jugoslav Lazic, who was unable to stop Club Brugge emerging as 2-1 victors.

This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.

H/T: 101GG

Esiliiga side FC Puuma Tallinn have lost their last seven matches, and are on course for a drop down to the third tier of the Estonian league system.

Puuma's Russian striker Yaroslav Dmitriev did nothing to help the cause by earning a red card in their recent game with Rakvere Tarvas. When an opponent made some reasonably legitimate contact while challenging for the ball, Dmitriev took exception to the invasion of his personal space and swung a powerful kick into his stomach.

Perhaps the man in yellow had irritated him earlier in the match, or perhaps he had been waiting for an opportunity to show off a sweet move he learned from the Mortal Kombat movie, which probably just came out in Estonia a few weeks ago. Either way, just to make his violent intent crystal clear for the referee, Dmitriev then kicked the ball at the man he felled.

This has been the Dirty Tackle of the Day: a chronicling of unfortunate events.

Video H/T: 101GG

If only he knew the danger... (Getty)

Football may be the world's favorite sport — and something that people will use their spare time to learn more about on superbly written Yahoo! blogs — but that doesn't mean the professional players who entertain us actually have to have any interest in what they're doing.

As a Premier League footballer for the past seven seasons, many would say Tottenham defender Benoît Assou-Ekotto has one of the best jobs in the world, but the Cameroon international is happy to admit that he doesn't actually like the game. When he turns up at White Hart Lane on a Saturday, he often doesn't know anything about the opposition, nor the league standing of his club. In a Guardian interview in 2010, he even went as far as saying he only "plays for the money," not the enjoyment of the game.

In a new Guardian interview published on Friday, Assou-Ekotto reiterates his lack on interest in the beautiful game and even admits an astonishing lack of knowledge concerning one of the biggest recent incidents in

Watzke had to wait until Xabi Alonso finished crying in there (Getty/Yahoo! composite)

In the final ten minutes of Borussia Dortmund's Champions League visit to the Bernabeu on Tuesday evening, the Bundesliga side were perilously close to surrendering the 4-1 lead they held from the first leg. As Real Madrid scored two late goals and pushed forward to score a third that would secure a place in the final, the tension was almost unbearable for followers of the German side.

For BVB's general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke, there was only one way to deal with the situation: lock yourself in the can, put your fingers in your ears and wait until it's all over.

The 53-year-old explained his time in a Bernabeu bathroom to German newspaper Bild (translated via The Sun):

“It seems like we only can do it with drama.

“For the first time in my life I had to give up due to heart problems.

“I went to the toilet for the last minutes, locked myself in, covered my ears and looked at my watch.

“I had all kinds of thoughts going through my head.”

Watzke — who has guided Dortmund away from

On Saturday, Internacional played São Defende in the final of the Copa Sul dos Campeões, an amateur competition held in the city of Criciúma.

After Internacional took the lead, things turned controversial when a São player was given a red card for apparently punching an opponent. In his wisdom, referee Edésio Weber also decided to send off the Inter player who had been punched to the ground, sparking an outraged reaction from his teammates. This climaxed when the Internacional coach took to the field to choke the bewildered ref, in the fashion of Homer Simpson administering punishment to his son...