Europe

At the start of the season, Liverpool fans were filled a sense of cautious optimism. If it weren't for the fact that the club is in the midst of a 26-year drought since its last league title, the fan base may have actually dared to say that this would be their year to end what has been an agonize quarter century for the club with the second-most league titles in England.

It would have been hard to fault their confidence, as the stars seemed to align for something special to happen at Anfield this term.

In between weeks eight and nine of the 2015/16 Premier League season, Liverpool added to their list of great signings by bringing in former Borussia Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp.

Going into the 2016/17 Premier League Season, Liverpool had extremely high expectations. During the first half of the season, Liverpool saw a mixture of great results against high-caliber teams who had their hopes set on the title race. However, in 2017 Liverpool has seen a handful of mixed results that have set back their title race dreams.

This season could not be more quintessential Arsenal if it tried. From their annual shellacking by Bayern Munich in the round of 16 to their current standing of fourth in the Premier League, everything is going according to plan. 

Hand in hand with these results are the seasonal calls for Arsene Wenger to leave and the questioning of the big-game ability of the majority of their squad, particularly the team’s highest-paid player (who’s also asking for more money), Mesut Ozil.

After a difficult November and December that saw him go nine La Liga matches without a goal at one point, Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann is quietly regaining the form that saw him tear up the European Championship and the opening fixtures of La Liga.

Griezmann salvaged a point for Atletico against Deportivo on Thursday after deciding that his two exchanged passes constituted a sufficient buildup and so hammered one from almost 30 yards out. The shot flew over the goalkeeper and into the right-hand corner. 

Ah, Germany, the land of order and organization, logic and reason. You know, or not.

We bring to you this alarming tweet from Bundesliga club Hamburger SV:

 Wildpinkler unerwünscht! Nicht in unser Wohnzimmer!
Der Ordnungsdienst verweist Wildpinkler gemäß der Hausordnung des #Volksparkstadions pic.twitter.com/DXVlQjJBf5

Bobby Wood is quietly haveing a decent first season with Bundesliga side Hamburg. Wood has eight goals in 21 appearances for Hamburg, who are fighting for their lives in the Bundesliga, and just got knocked out of the Dfb Pokal by Borussia Monchengladbach. Hey, Bobby Wood scored though.

Hopefully if Hamburg do in fact get relegated some other Bundesliga team notices his athleticism and finishing ability and scoops him up.

Real Madrid salvaged a point after having Gareth Bale sent off in the 47th minute and Las Palmas leading 3-1 as late as the 85th minute, and it was all thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Barcelona started the day by crushing Sporting Gijon 6-1, so Real Madrid knew that anything less than a victory would cut into their lead at the top. Real’s draw means that Barcelona are now atop the La Liga table by a point, although Los Blancos still maintain a game in hand.

Luis Enrique has confirmed that he will step down as Barcelona manager at the conclusion of this season, bringing an end to three highly successful years as Barca’s coach. Enrique signed an extension to manage Barcelona until the end of the 2017 season after he’d sealed a treble in his first season at the helm, but questions regarding whether or not that contract would be further extended have been extinguished by Enrique’s announcement.

Newcastle United travelled to Brighton & Hove Albion’s Amex Stadium for a match between first and second in the English Championship. With the top two sides in the division earning automatic promotion to the Premier League, matches really don’t get any bigger than this.

Albion took the lead through Glenn Murray after Murray, Newcastle’s Ciaran Clark and goalkeeper Karl Darlow all clashed together in a clusterf**k of cliche Championship football, the referee pointing to spot.

Last year, on February 28, Louis van Gaal became a meme. It was bound to happen eventually. This is a man who once exposed himself to his Bayern Munich squad in the dressing room to make some kind of point no one understood, once booped a camera and once did whatever this is.