EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Former Carolina Panthers executive Dave Gettleman was the second candidate to interview for the vacant New York Giants general manager job.

Gettleman has ties to the Giants, where he spent 15 years in their personnel department before joining the Panthers as general manager.

He becomes the second candidate to officially interview for the position, which was left vacant when the Giants fired Jerry Reese and coach Ben McAdoo two weeks ago.

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  The new Giants general manager must decide whether to keep Eli Manning and whether to pay Odell Beckham Jr.

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  Eli Manning is open to being with the Giants again next season, and the team has shown interest in that. But is having Eli back really a good thing?

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  Eli Apple’s immature behavior hasn’t made him a popular player on the Giants, which Landon Collins expounded on in a Monday radio interview.

Mircea Lucescu found his seat, pulled out a blanket, and settled in. Temperatures in Kharkhiv were tilting toward 30F on Wednesday night, and the new Turkey manager could have been anywhere else in the world. But he wanted to be right here, to see Shakhtar Donetsk face Manchester City.

This was no scouting trip. Neither team had a single Turkish player in their lineup. Lucescu was here to check in on Shakhtar, whom he led to eight Ukrainian titles and a UEFA Cup during a brilliant 12-year tenure. He was hoping to see the club get the point that was needed to qualify for the knockout phase of the Champions League.

More than that, though, Lucescu was here for the same reasons he agreed to become the club’s manager in the first place, all the way back in 2004. Namely, the promise of sparkling Samba soccer even in the unlikeliest of settings.

Almost half a century has passed since Lucescu, as captain of the Romanian national team, travelled to Brazil for a series of exhibition games. It is bizarre to consider how that trip would lay the foundations for Shakhtar to beat City all this time later.

Lucescu was dazzled by his opponents on that historic tour, and they were dazzled by him. Fluminense’s attempt to take him on loan failed. He returned to Europe, played out a fine career, and became a successful manager.

His fascination with the South American country endured, however, and when Shakhtar’s wealthy owner, Rinat Akhmetov, offered him the chance to build a team according to his own vision, a love affair was consummated at last. Under Lucescu’s stewardship, as many as 13 Brazilian players would feature in Shakhtar’s first-team squad at the same time.

That number has since dwindled. Recruitment became trickier after the club was forced to relocate hundreds of miles away from Donetsk in 2014, to escape armed conflict in the region. It left behind a modern training base and new stadium to play before sparse crowds in Lviv and now Kharkiv.

And yet, a Brazilian core has endured. Even the man who succeeded Lucescu last year, Paulo Fonseca, was chosen in part to extend the tradition: a Portuguese speaker who could communicate with such players most effectively. The likes of Alex Teixeira, Luiz Adriano, and Douglas Costa departed soon before he arrived. But Bernard, Marlos, Fred, Taison, and Ismaily have all stayed.

It was the first of those players who opened the scoring against City on Wednesday, arcing a brilliant finish over Ederson and into the top corner. Ismaily had helped to create the opportunity, his run outside causing Danilo to delay and leave room for the shot. The Shakhtar left-back then added a goal of his own shortly before half-time.

City had no answers. True, this was not its strongest XI – Pep Guardiola handing a Champions League debut to the 20-year-old Tosin Adarabioyo, and a first start in any competition to the 17-year-old Phil Foden. Curiously, the latter was deployed at left wing-back, despite having thrived in the youth team as an attacking midfielder and No 10.

Yet the English champion – previously unbeaten this season – was still featuring Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus, and Bernardo Silva up front, not to mention the former Shakhtar man Fernandinho in central defence. There was little to play for, with first place in Champions League Group F already secured, yet Ilkay Gundogan hardly looked like a man taking the night off as he raged at the referee’s decision to award a free-kick against him in the second minute.

Even at 2-0 down, City kept chipping away. The club eventually pulled a goal back through a questionable penalty. It was only a consolation prize, yet even that felt a little harsh on Shakhtar, who had mustered three times as many shots on goal as its opponent despite having the ball at their feet for less than half as much time.

The host was able to celebrate all the same at the end. Fonseca had promised to dress up as Zorro if Shakhtar made it through a group in which the club began as clear third-favourite behind City and Napoli. Thousands of fans had showed up for this game wearing eye masks as a reminder.

For the presence of game-changing players like Bernard, he has Lucescu to thank. Seven of the nine goals Shakhtar has scored in this Champions League campaign have come from Brazilian players. The other two were scored by an Argentinian, Facundo Ferreyra.

Yet Fonseca has refined things even further, building a team that can be expansive and brilliant when the situation permits but which also knows how to kill a game. Shakhtar suffocated City, just as the club had Napoli at the start of the group phase.

Now, Shakhtar can look forward to a two-month pause as the Ukrainian winter sets in. Lucescu can pack away that blanket and head back to Turkey’s warmer climes. Until the time comes to fly back out here for another Samba fix, at least.

The usual suspects — Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Antonio Brown and Von Miller, to name a few — are in. But there were a few surprises on the 2018 Pro Bowl rosters — 88 of the NFL’s best players from the 2017 season — that were released Tuesday night. NFL Nation reporters have compiled Pro Bowl summaries for all 32 teams.

The Pro Bowl will be played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 28. It will be televised live at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN, and it will be simulcast on ABC.

Click the links after each team below (listed in alphabetical order) to view the full posts:

Patrick Peterson, one of four Cardinals players picked this season, has made the Pro Bowl in each of his seven seasons in the NFL. Another notable selection: Rookie Budda Baker made the team as a special-teamer. Read more.

Julio Jones and Alex Mack made the roster, but second-year linebacker Deion Jones did not. The reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week is sixth in the league with 118 total tackles Read more.

The Ravens had three players named to the roster, all of whom are leaders for a defense that has produced three shutouts. It marks the Ravens’ 12th straight season with at least three Pro Bowl selections. Read more.

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  Here are the selections for the 2018 Pro Bowl, which will be played at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 28, 2018.

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  The 2018 Pro Bowl selections have been revealed, and the Saints are sending two running backs (Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara) to the game. The Steelers led all teams with eight selections, while the Eagles and New Orleans each had six.

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  Last week showed us the catch rule and ball spotting are as flawed as ever. Why not experiment with alternatives? Here’s how to make the game useful.

Russell Wilson, Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagoner and Jimmy Graham all made the Pro Bowl for at least the fourth time. Read more.

Although the chances of him featuring are slim, Wojciech Szczesny is yearning for a return to England after revealing his hopes that Juventus gets drawn with a Premier League team in the Champions League Round of 16.

Szczesny, who spent several years with Arsenal before losing his job to Petr Cech and leaving on a permanent transfer last summer, made his Champions League debut with Juventus on Tuesday during the Italian side’s 2-0 win over Olympiacos.

The result saw Juventus finish second in its group, meaning that the chances are good that the Serie A outfit will be drawn with an English side after four of the five Premier League teams to qualify for the knockout rounds managed to finish atop their respective groups.

“I hope that we draw an English team,” Szczesny told Juve’s website, according to ESPN FC’s Ben Gladwell.

“I’d really like it if we could win a big game in England.”

Considering his past ties to Arsenal, Szczesny will likely be eager to visit north London again if Juve draws Tottenham. Manchester City, Manchester United, and Liverpool are the other possible English opponents. Besiktas or Paris Saint-Germain are the only non-English teams that Juve can be drawn against.