Champions League – Round of 16 Breakdown

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The Round of 16 in the Champions League is done. All match results but one, I would say, were expected. The one many people didn’t see coming was Sevilla beating Manchester United. Manchester United came out with what some say was a bad game plan, which led to a 1-2 defeat even with the home field advantage. There were three games that looked won after the first leg and they were. These scores of the first leg, Porto vs Liverpool: 0-5, FC Basel vs Manchester City: 0-4, and Bayern vs Besiktas: 5-0, all showed that they would lead to a poor or boring second leg. Liverpool would go on to win 5-0, Manchester City 5-2, and Bayern Munich 8-1. The final match people weren’t anticipating, was not because of the first leg score but was because of the lack of big names. It was one of the few close games however, and Roma would win 2-2 on away goals after Shakhtar Donetsk lost strength with a red card. As covered in one of my other posts, Real Madrid beat PSG 5-2 with PSG handicapped after they lost their star player, Neymar. Another close one, Tottenham vs Juventus, ended 3-4 with Juventus winning the second leg 1-2 despite playing on the road. Lastly is Barcelona vs Chelsea, which looked to be a promising game, but Barcelona at home was too much to overcome for the English side and Barcelona would go on to win, 4-1 after a 3-0 second leg. In conclusion, the 8 teams that will advance to the quarterfinals are Real Madrid, Liverpool, Juventus, Manchester City, Roma, Sevilla, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona. What matchups are you hoping to see in these quarterfinals? Who is your team you hope to succeed?

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PSG vs Real Madrid, 2nd Leg

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After a 3-1 victory in the 1st leg things looked promising for Real Madrid. It was looking rough for the French team Paris Saint-Germain and it would only get worse when Neymar went down in a regular season match against Marseille. In this game he suffered a sprain of his right ankle and fissure of his fifth metatarsal. When this occurred many expected PSG to be knocked out much more easily by Real Madrid. Despite this game being in Paris, Real Madrid had the upper hand. The game was scoreless through the first half and the first goal came from Cristiano Ronaldo. In the 51′ minute he gave the Spanish side a 0-1 lead. Next came a second yellow card resulting in a red card for Marco Verratti. Although PSG was playing with only 10 men, they found a way to score a goal and it was by Edinson Cavani in the 71′ minute. This would make the leg 1-1 and the overall aggregate 2-4 and give PSG some sort of hope. All hope that they had gained would be crushed however, 9 minutes later when Casemiro scored and brought the aggregate to 2-5 where PSG looked to be done for. Real Madrid would eventually win deservedly and move on to quarterfinals. What matchups do you hope to see in the next round of the Champions League?

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Arsenal vs Manchester City, Carabao Cup Final

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Manchester City ripped Arsenal apart in the Carabao Cup final to get their first trophy under head coach Pep Guardiola. The first goal came in the 18′ minute after Sergio Aguero bumped backs with Arsenal defender Mustafi while the ball flew over them. Mustafi raised his arms waiting for a whistle to be blown but all that he would hear is the cheers in the stadium seconds later as Aguero flicked the ball over the keeper’s head into the corner of the net. The first half ended 0-1 in favor of Man City. The next goal came in the 58′ minute as the returning Man City captain, Vincent Kompany, was able to find the back of the net. Lastly, to put the game away was a goal scored by David Silva in the 65′ minute. The final score was 0-3 with City lifting the trophy. Manchester City was in complete control of this game for almost the entirety of the 90 minutes that were played. Although they played an outstanding game many believe Arsenal gave up mid-game. Does Manchester City have a chance to win the Champions League? Is it time for Arsenal to leave head coach Arsene Wenger?

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