The last day of Champions League Round of 16 featured four world-renowned teams. Arsenal traveled to FC Barcelona hoping to make up a 2-0 aggregate deficit, while Bayern Munich and Juventus were tied at two.
As the dust settled on a thoroughly entertaining 0-0 draw between Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, it was evident that the two most memorable moments of the match involved Munich’s young starlet Joshua Kimmich. A 21-year-old who was serving as a makeshift defender in the most important league match of the season, Kimmich hardly put a foot wrong.
You should not try to blackmail Bayern Munich. This was the lesson learned by a man known as the "broomstick robber" (as far as robber nicknames go, he may have drawn the short, uh, broomstick here) when he was arrested for allegedly threatening Germany's foremost football club.
FC Barcelona traveled to England and beat Arsenal 2 - 0. Messi scored both goals, the first in the 71st minute and the second on a penalty in the 83rd. While in Turino, Italy, Bayern took a two goal lead from Thomas Mueller and Arjen Robben. Mueller scored the first goal in the 43rd minute and Robben added the 2nd in the 55th. Juventus battled back for the 2 - 2 tie with goals in the 63rd and 76th minute. The first was scored by Paulo Dybala and the tying goal came from Stefano Sturaro.
Oh, to be German. The land of a healthy economy, delicious beer, and, of course, the World Cup Champions. It’s good to be in German soccer right now. If you are a young German, fans of top flight clubs across Europe melt at the prospect of having you on their team. If you are a veteran, people call you things like Fußballgott (which literaly means Football God). If you are a coach, you are highly respected, and more than likely highly paid.
The No. 9 in soccer, traditionally the number reserved for the team's starting striker, has been the subject of various discussion points over the last few years. From arguments revolving around the importance of the position in modern tactics to the belief that the No. 9 is being phased out of the game, doubts have been cast upon the future of the role.
When Robert Lewandowski was 17, he lost his 49-year-old father, Krzysztof, to a heart attack. Shortly after, Lewandowski was told by his youth team, Legia Warsaw, that he would never reach his previous levels of fitness and form following an injury.
They subsequently released him, the culmination of a terrible year for the young Polish forward. Lewandowski had put football before everything, dedicating himself to the game and he now had nothing to show for it. Forced to grow up quickly in a difficult time, Lewandowski refused to accept Warsaw’s conclusion.
Xabi Alonso, you 34-year-old dog you. So are you resorting to only scoring goals as far out as your age? Because this 30+ yard cracking volley is pure greatness. That touch to kill the clearance, and then the approach on the bouncing ball that resulted in the back of the net. Your greatness will never be forgotten and we at The18 thank you for giving us this gem of a goal. Keep being you Xabi.
Emblazoned across the wall at one of the Manchester City training gyms is the slogan “CREATE THE FUTURE.” With their massive outlay on player transfer fees, as well as over £200m spent on the Etihad Campus, a training and academy facility, the Citizens are hell-bent on global domination.
Funded by the seemingly limitless wealth of the Abu Dhabi United Group, the Sky Blues have become a dominant force in English football, winning the Premier League title twice in the last four years.
Three weeks ago in London, Arsenal beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League. This is not a particularly inventive sentence to start an Internet post, but it should be an attention-grabber nonetheless. Bayern Munich took this personally for some reason - “oh, so, a win against us on a Tuesday night constitutes a famous win?” - and got angry and took out their anger on the poor Gunners when Arsenal visited for the return leg. They bagged three before the half. They got five in total.