Top 10 substitutions in the history of football

Here we take a look at the some of the most inspiring substitutions that were made in the beautiful game. These substitutions are in no particular order .

10. Tim Krul vs Costa Rica FIFA World Cup quarterfinals
The Newcastle United goalkeeper came off the bench in the last minute of extra time and saved 2 penalties as the Dutch won 4-3 on penalties.

9.Nwankwo Kanu vs Chelsea , English Premier League
Kanu scored a 17 minute hat-trick for Arsenal against the Blues in the Stamford Bridge .

8.Kluivert vs AC Milan, 1995 Champions League Finals
Kluivert came off the bench s a substitute for Ajax to score a 85th minute winner as Ajax beat Milan 1-0 in Vienna.

7. Kevin Prince Boateng vs Leece, Serie A
Boateng scored a hat-trick in 14 minutes after coming off the bench against Leece as Milan won the game 4-3 thanks to Boateng's heroics.

6.Lars Ricken vs Juventus , 1997 Champions League final
The 20  year old substitute who was a local player of BVB received a through-pass from Andreas Muller only 16 seconds after coming off the bench and chipped the Juventus keeper with his first touch of the game to make it 3-1 for Borussia Dortmund.

5.Oliver Bierhoff vs Czech Republic , UEFA Euro 1996 Final
Bierhoff equalised for Germany in the 73rd minute and scored the golden goal in extra time as Germany won the game 2-1.

4.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Nottingham Forest , English Premier League
Solskjaer scored 4 goals in 12 minutes after coming on as a second half substitue.

3.Sherringham and Solskjaer vs Bayern Munchen, 1999 Champions League Finals
In what was one of the most memorable Champions league finals , United were trailing 1-0 to Bayern and substitue Sherrimgham managed to get the ball in the bottom corner after Bayern failed to clear the ball properly in extra time.

Less than 30 seconds after play resumed again , United won another corner and substitute Solskjaer poked the ball into the roof of Bayern's net and United won 2-1 with 2 injury time goals.

2.Mario Gotze vs Argentina ,2014 World Cup finals.
Super Mario came on for the legendary Klose and controlled Schurrle's cross with his chest and then volleyed it into the goal to win Germany their 4th World Cup title.

1.Robert Lewandowski vs Wolfsburg, Bundesliga
The Polish international was subbed on by Guardiola in the second half against Wolfsburg as Bayern were chasing the game and Lewandowski managed to score 5 goals in 9 minutes and Bayern won the game 5-1.

Lewandowski vs Aguero vs Ronaldo : Who's 5 goal haul was better ?

These 3 players are one of the most deadly attackers in world football and are known of their pace, dribbling, vision and finishing abilities . All three have scored 5 goals in one game in each of their respective leagues and we take a look at who did it the best . 

We shall use 5 categories to decide the winner.

1.Time 

Lewandowski comes out on top easily as he came off the bench against Wolfsburg and took just 9 minutes to score his 5 goals , the fastest by any player in the history of Bundesliga. Aguero took 20 minutes to score his 5 goals against Newcastle United and it was the fastest by any player in the English Premier League. Ronaldo's 5 goals against Espanyol stretched from the 7th minute to the 81st minute ,a time span of 74 minutes.  Thus lewandowski is the outright winner of this round .

2.Quality of opposition

Wolfsburg currently sit in 9th position in the Bundesliga while Espanyol are in 10th place in La Liga. Meanwhile Newcastle United are in the relegation zone . Thus Lewandowski and Ronaldo come out on top in this round. 

3. Strength of opposition's defense

In this round we take a look at how strong the defenses of the opposition are in the League.Lewandowski's 5 goals came against a Wolfsburg side that have conceded 10 goals in their 8 league game with an average of just over 1 goal per game. Espanyol have let in 16  goals in their 7 games with an average of over 2 goals per game. Newcastle with the worst defense among the three having conceded 17 goals in 6 games. Lewandowski once again comes out on top having faced a team with a better defensive record .

4. Penalties

Lewandowski and Aguero both scored all their goals without the help of any penalties while Ronaldo was awarded 1 penalty  .

5. Quality of goals

Ronaldo's best goal among his top 5 was his first which was a well taken goal as he curled it low into the right hand side of the net.  Aguero's best goals included a beautiful  chip over the Newcastle goalkeeper Krul  and an unstoppable goal from just outside the box as Aguero switched it on to his right foot  and curled it in with the ball just bending into the goal at the last moment leaving no chance for the goalkeeper. Lewandowski had 2 goals which stood out of the top 5 . His second was a superb inch perfect goal from distance as he whacked it in the bottom left corner of the goal. And he saved the best for his last goal as Gotze delivered the cross from the right wing and the Polish international struck the cross with an absolutely delightful scissors kick smashing the ball into the corner and there was just no stopping that . So thanks to his scissors key Lewandowski comes out on top of this round yet again. 

Since Lewandowski won each and every round of this segment , we can say that the Bayern hitman's 5 goals were the most impressive and entertaining . 

Bayern Munich join the race to sign Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi .

Sources claim that Bayern Munich is interested in signing the central defender from Valencia to further strengthen their squad. Mustafi was part of the Germany's world cup winning squad in 2015 and Guardiola is a fan of the ex-Everton defender .

Mustafi had signed for Valencia on 7th August 2014 for an undisclosed fee and has been an impressive player for Valencia ever since and helped earn Valencia a place in the Champions league as they finished 4th in La Liga last season.

Bayern will be looking to complete the transfer in the January transfer window with reported interest from various top clubs including Manchester United ,Barcelona and Real Madrid who are also keen to make a move for the German international .

Match report : Arsenal vs Manchester United

The odds were definitely in United's favour heading into Sunday's clash with Arsenal coming off the back of a Champions league defeat to Olompiacos while United recording a victory against Wolfsburg and a victory for United meaning they would be back again at the top of the table. Also, the last time Arsenal beat United in the League was in May 2011 , so the pressure was definitely on Arsene Wenger's side.

But finally when the dust settled  and all was said and done Arsenal thrashed United 3-0 in the Emirates stadium with a brace from Sanchez and a goal from Ozil as Arsenal climbed up to second position in the league table.

Arsenal had made 4 changes to the side that was beaten by Olompiacos with Cech returning back in goal . United made 2 changes from their last game with Carrick playing instead of Schneiderlin and Ashley Young in for Valencia at left full-back.

Early on Arsenal got a free kick just outside the box but Santi Cazorla's effort was too straight forward and De Gea had no problem in dealing with it .

It all started in the 6th minute , Arsenal started at attack down the left wing . The ball was played to  right back Hector Bellerin by Ozil and Bellerin got past Ashley Young just outside the box  but his cross was intercepted  by Daley Blind but it was a poor clearance from the Dutchman and Arsenal got back possession . Ramsey played it through to Mesul Ozil who fed it Sanchez who converted brilliantly from the near post for Arsenal's first goal.

Just one minute after the first goal Arsenal were on the counter again . Sanchez brilliantly flicked the ball to Ozil . Ozil passed it on to Walcott in the box who was surrounded by 4 United players but picked out Ozil who continued his run into the box and the ex-madrid playmaker  slotted it into the bottom left-corner leaving absolutely no chance for De gea .

In the 20th minute ,Arsenal stared moving  up the pitch again and Ramsey played a brilliant pass to Sanchez and the Chilean took it past Matteo Darmian , went past another defender , switched it on to his right foot and absolutely smashed it into the the top right corner. It was   a screamer from Sanchez who has found his form again with 6 goals in his last games and De Gea again with no chance of stopping it .

Mid-way through the first half , Arsenal started an attack again , Santi Cazorla  headed it cleverly over Schweinsteiger's head but his shot from outside the box  couldn't find the target.

The first half was all-arsenal and in the 35th minute  Arsenal started yet another attack down the left wing  with Sanchez pulling off some step-overs and played it to Ozil and Arsenal played a few passes in United's box and finally Sanchez picked out Ramsey with a brilliant cross who is open but Ramsey fires it way over the crossbar. It really should have been 4-0 but Ramsey with a poor finish.

Towards the end of the first half , United started an attack and Antony Martial gets the ball in the 6 yard area with his back to goal and sends Mertesacker the wrong way but Cech saves it brilliantly with his leg and the game goes into half time .

Just a few minutes into the second half Ashley Young runs into Arsenal's half , cuts inside and takes a shot but it's a comfortable save for Petr Cech.

In the 53rd minute , Arsenal got a free  kick outside the box . Ozil took it but his shot was straight at the wall and Ozil fired the rebound way off target .

Manchester United got a corner in the 62nd which is headed away by an Arsenal defender  not too far away and  United regain possession but Rooney's effort was saved by Petr Cech with a diving effort to his left . Another good save by Petr Cech.

United started another attack with some good passes around the penalty area and Schweinsteiger is one-on-one but his first touch is too heavy and Cech takes it away from Germany's captain.

In the 70th minute , Mata gets the ball outside  Arsenal's penalty area but he can't convert what was a difficult chance.

A few minutes later , Monreal made a run down the left wing  and laid it on to Ozil who shot it straight at De Gea.

Towards the end of the game , Arsenal started another counter attack and Chamberlain got the ball on the right wing , made his way into  United's penalty area and passed it to Giroud who shot it low but the effort was straight at De Gea. Poor finish from the Frenchman.

In injury time , United lost the ball in the centre of the pitch and Chamberlain was released in the penalty area by a through ball and 'The Ox'  chipped it over De Gea but his effort hit the crossbar and went out of play .

The final whistle blew at the Emirates stadium and Arsenal got their first victory over United in four and a half years . Arsenal set this game up with three early outstanding goals and Cech was able to save everything that United threw at him .

United missed out on the chance of reaching the top of the table and Arsenal by far the better team and a deserved win for them . Arsenal right back in the title race with this victory .

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid

And the Madrid derby is back again. The last time these 2 sides faced was in the quarter finals of last season's Champions league when a late goal from Javier Hernandez sealed a narrow victory for Real as Athletico crashed out 1-0 on aggregate.

Things have changed since then at Real Madrid as they sacked Carlo Ancelotti and brought in Rafa Benitez .Real haven't had the best of starts to their league campaign drawing 2 games out of 6 while their city rivals Atletico have already lost 2 games including a defeat to Barcelona .

It's also worth mentioning that the last league game between these 2 clubs saw Atletico thrash 'Los Blancos' 4-0 including goals from Mandzukic and Griezmann .Atletico also registered a 2-1 win against Real in their first league meeting last season .Atletico Madrid also got the better of Real in the Copa Del Rey when they won 4-2 on aggregate including a brace from Torres in the second leg .

This fixture could be very historic for Cristiano Ronaldo who needs only one goal to overtake Raul and become the club's leading goalscorer having reached 323 goals with a brace against Malmo in the Champions league last week.  It's a bit of a funny situation for Ronaldo as he has scored in only one league game out of 6 games but found the back of the net 5 times in that game against Espanyol . It will be perfect for Real if Ronaldo can break the record against their city rivals Atletico Madrid.

Real's no.9 Karim Benzema will also be crucial for them having scored 5 league goals in 5 games and joining Ronaldo as the league top scorer.

Talking about key players in attack , Antoine Griezmann will be the player to watch for 'Los Rojiblancos' who is their top scorer in all competitions this season with 3 goals and 2 assists in the league and also grabbed a brace in the Champions league againsy Galatasaray.

Atletico will be keen to grab  a victory having lost both their previous fixtures. Atletico will definitely feel the absence of  Arda Turan who moved to FC Barcelona in the summer . The Turkish international was crucial for them over the past few years and played a huge role for them in 2013-14  when they lifted the Liga BBVA after 17 years and also reached the Champions league finals where they lost to Real in extra time .

This summer also saw the departure of striker Mario Mandzukic to Juventus and Atletico signed Jackson Martinez from Porto who seemed like he was on his way to AC Milan. Mandzukic and Griezmann had formed a good strike partnership but J.Martinez hasn't really delivered so far having scored only once in the League .Atletico will be hoping he can find his shooting boots in the Madrid derby and get back to his old form that made him so dangerous at Porto .

It will be interesting to see if Simeone picks his ex-teammate Fernando Torres for the clash .'El Nino' has found the back of the net twice including a goal against Barcelona in which they lost 2-1 .

Atletico Madrid are known for their aggression, discipline and strong defensive displays under Coach Simeone and they will be looking to Diego Godin to put in a strong perfrimance in defense and possibly keep a clean sheet .

Rafa Benitez will also be boosted by the return of Gareth Bale amd Sergio Ramos who have been declared fit but Benitez has ruled out James Rodriguez for the clash. It's unclear whether Benitez will be starting with Bale as he just made his return from injury and Benitez does have the services of Mateo Kovacic at his disposal who was signed from Inter in the summer and has had  a couple of good games under his belt .

Real Madrid will be the favourites for the derby with Atletico's poor performances in the past few games but if there's one thing we know about Diego Simeone is that he sure knows how to beat Real Madrid.

Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund

This Sunday is "Der Klassiker " in the Bundesliga as the league leaders Bayern take on 2nd place Dortmund .The german showdown will take place in the Allianz Arena . The last time these two teams faced each other was in the semifinals of the German Cup when Dortmund knocked out Bayern on penalties.Both teams are unbeaten this season in the Bundesliga but Bayern enjoy a 4 point lead as BVB drew both their previous games.This will also be Dortmund"s first game against Bayern since the departure of Jurgen Klopp .Dortmund endured a terrible time last season as they went from being one of Europe"s elite clubs to failing to qualify for the Champions League. Coach Thomas Tuchel has done a pretty good job with BVB so far this season . 

Lewandowski and Gotze will once again return to the Signal Iduna Park and both players have scored against their former club since moving to Bayern . Dortmund will have to definitely try and stop the beast that once played for them . Lewandowski  has scored 10 goals in his previous 3 matches including a 5 goal haul against Wolfsburg and a Champions League hat-trick against Dinamo Zagreb. Hummels will have to try and man mark his ex-teammate for this one . Muller and Douglas Costa will also be key players for Bayern Munich tomorrow and the 19 year old Kingsley Coman could also make his mark on the game . For BVB , their key player will be Aubameyang who has scored 9 goals in 7 appearances in the Bundesliga this season.

 The big question arises as to wheter Marco Reus will bring his A-game ? Reus who has been linked to almost every top club in Europe in the past 2 seasons including Bayern has bagged 2 goals and 1 assist in 5 league games this season . Reus  hasn't quite lived up to his first 2 seasons at BVB but Dortmund fans will be hoping he can find the back of the net against the World's no.1 keeper Manuel Neuer .

To sum things up , Dortmund will have to display a solid defensive performance along with some good attack if they are to beat the defending champions  in their own backyard  .Bayern Munich are the clear favourties for Sunday"s clash but you just can"t count BVB out. Thats's the beautiful thing about football.

Have Bayern Munich found the replacement for Franck Ribery ?

Have Bayern Munich found the replacement for Franck Ribery ?

Things are going remarkably well at the Allianz Arena and Bayern Munich are in terrific form grabbing 3 points in all their Bundesliga and Champions league games so far . Talking about the summer signing of Douglas Costa from Shakhtar Donetsk.  Douglas Costa has been superb , he has pace, agression, the infamous Brazilian tricks and he is turning out to be an assist machine for the German champions racking up 6 assists in 9 matches for Bayern in all competitive matches so far and has found the back of the net twice .Ribery is set to make his comeback soon in the coming weeks and the question arises will Douglas Costa keep Franck Ribery on the bench or woll Pep Guardiola play the both of them together ? Also with Robben set to make his return soon and with Kingsley Coman's impressive performance in the past few games  it's going to be interesting to see who Pep starts with . All I can say at this stage is if Douglas Costa keeps up his current form , there's no keep him out of the starting lineup . Douglas seems like the signing of the season for Bayern with the way he has fitted into Pep's system and he's soon becoming a fan favourite . And Ribery despite his unquestionable speed, trickery and vision will have to really prove that he can start for Bayern once again .