data-mm-id=”_vtsulk3mw”>Athletes are just as bored as the rest of us, and a few have decided to fill their time by jumping on studio shows that currently represent our only sports-centric escape from reality. Cam Heyward did just that on Thursday, appearing on First Things First to explain why the 2011 NFL Draft is one of the best of all time. With the caveat that Heyward is inherently biased as a member of that class, he broke down his argument to Nick Wright. "I'm biased, b/c I'm part of the 2011 draft, but I definitely think it's one of the best drafts ever. We had 12 D-linemen in the 1st round & then you look at the guys who weren't in the first round — Jurrell Casey or Richard Sherman. Richard is a HOFer in my book." — @CamHeyward pic.twitter.com/56FkXwipkF— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 9, 2020Looking back, the 2011 draft was definitely stacked. The players selected in the first round alone have a combined 21 All-Pro selections to date, with names like JJ Watt, Julio Jones, Cam Newton, Von Miller, and Heyward leading the pack. In fact, out of the first 32 players picked, only about 10 would be considered busts in some way, shape, or form. As Heyward points out, this draft wasn't top-heavy either. Richard Sherman, Justin Houston, Jurrell Casey, Marcus Gilbert, and Randall Cobb are among the big names scattered in the later rounds. It had everything from potential all-time greats (Watt, Miller, Sherman, Jones) to regular Pro Bowlers and All-Pros (Peterson, Newton, Heyward, Tyron Smith, AJ Green, Cameron Jordan) to steady starters that have stuck around the whole decade (Ryan Kerrigan, Nate Solder, Anthony Castonzo). It was absolutely a stacked class, and easily the best of the decade thus far. Time will tell if it can match the quality of the 1983 draft, which had seven Hall of Famers in the first round. But in its first decade, the 2011 draft definitely holds a candle to the best of the best, even if we can't definitively say it's there quite yet.
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Last season s finalists will face Barca at the Camp Nou for the first time since their collapse in the second leg of the last-16 tie between the two teams in 2017.
PSG led 4-0 from the first leg at the Parc des Princes but astonishingly lost 6-1 in the second as Barca pulled off the greatest comeback in Champions League history.
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Andres Iniesta is set to play in his final Clasico on Sunday as his glittering Barcelona career nears its end.
With little other than pride riding on the biggest club game in world football, Iniesta will likely have even more licence to mark his last appearance in the fixture with a flourish.
Should he be unable to do so, the 33-year-old Spain great will still have plenty of fond memories of games against Madrid to look back on. Here we reflect on five of his best Clasicos.
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History offers little hope for Man United, Porto to be wary of Dzeko – Champions League in Opta numb
History is stacked against Manchester United in their bid to overturn a 2-0 first-leg home defeat to reach the Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s United travel to Paris without 10 injured first-team players and the suspended Paul Pogba, meaning five youth players have been drafted into the squad.
PSG hold a handsome lead thanks to first-leg goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe, while United s recent record in Champions League knockout games provides little source for optimism.
On top of that, no team has ever progressed from a knockout tie in the Champions League after losing the first leg at home by two goals or more.
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Thomas Tuchel s impressive start to life as Chelsea head coach continued with a 2-0 win over Everton at Stamford Bridge on Monday.
The German has now overseen an unbeaten stretch of 11 games since taking over from Frank Lampard on January 26, with this result the Blues eighth win in that period.
Ben Godfrey s first-half own goal put the hosts ahead before Jorginho s penalty after the break ensured Everton s winless run at Chelsea would stretch to 26 Premier League games.
Chelsea remain in fourth but move back to within three points of third-placed Leicester City winners against Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend while the Toffees are now four points further back in fifth.
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Pep Guardiola has no doubt Chris Wilder would be challenging for Premier League glory if he managed Manchester City.
Wilder s time at Sheffield United looked to be coming to an end as Guardiola spoke out on Friday, with the Blades propping up the top-flight table after mustering just 14 points from 28 games.
That is a far cry from the situation with Guardiola s City, who have 68 points and look to be streaking towards a third championship in four seasons.
Yet Guardiola is known to rate Wilder, who led United to promotion in 2018-19 and to a ninth-placed finish in the Premier League last term.
If he would be here he would be fighting to be champion. If I would be in Sheffield maybe I would fight to not be relegated, Guardiola told a news conference.
…
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Bayern Munich clinched their sixth European Cup/Champions League trophy on Sunday, as Kingsley Coman s goal saw off Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in Lisbon.
It completed a wonderful season for Hansi Flick s side, who have completed a domestic and European treble.
Bayern s slender victory also saw the Bundesliga giants make history, as they became the first side to win every match on the way to triumphing in the European Cup or Champions League.
They may have been helped by the fact that – due to the coronavirus pandemic – Bayern only had to play four knockout games prior to the final, though it is still a remarkable feat.
Here is how their perfect run to Champions League glory panned out.
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Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong says tactics have not changed much since Quique Setien took over as head coach from Ernesto Valverde.
Valverde was sacked following the 3-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals, with Setien – an advocate of Johan Cruyff s possession-based approach – named as his successor on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
The 61-year-old appears to have had a prompt influence on Barca s style, the Catalans enjoying 82.4 per cent of the ball in the LaLiga win over Granada and 78 per cent in Wednesday s Copa del Rey victory in Ibiza.
Barca only managed three goals across those two games, though, suggesting they are yet to find a fluency to their attacking play – something for which Valverde was often criticised.
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In doing so, the Reds became the first English top-flight club to top the division having conceded the outright highest number of goals of any side since Norwich City in November 1992.
Erstwhile pacesetters Everton and Aston Villa both lost for the second game running, to Newcastle United and Southampton respectively, while Manchester United s poor start to the domestic campaign continued with defeat to Arsenal.
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