If last week’s round of Serie A fixtures was dominated by tragedy, then this week’s matches were defined by flashes of beauty peering through the gloom. Across a number of games, there were flashes of brilliance which pierced through the fog for vastly different reasons. Even if, ultimately, the moments meant nothing, the surge of emotion and energy was undeniable.
Let’s begin with the most astounding of all.
Oh baby. It’s that time of year again. Nearly seven weeks after a Copa del Rey exit put manager Zinedine Zidane’s position on the brink, Real Madrid has since gone 9-1-1 while elevating itself back to the position of Champions League favorite following a 5-2 aggregate humbling of PSG.
Over that period, Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded 15 goals and two assists in nine starts, including a brace against Eibar on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United rarely had the ball and rarely attacked. The Red Devils gave up an own goal that looked impossible to score. And yet the Manchester United vs Liverpool match never seemed in doubt for the home side at Old Trafford, with a Marcus Rashford brace powering a 2-1 victory on Saturday.
Liverpool dominated in all the stats that don’t matter: possession (68-32 percent), shots (14-5) and corner kicks (13-1). But a couple of unimaginative, Route 1 attacks in the opening half hour were all Manchester United needed to secure victory.
This is starting to look familiar. Just like last season, when Cristiano Ronaldo started the season slow before exploding late in the season, the Portuguese forward is rounding into form yet again, only this time he’s started even earlier. Ronaldo scored a brace for Real Madrid vs Eibar on Saturday, extending a superb run in the last two months as Los Blancos earned a 2-1 victory.
It’s been a great month for Borussia Dortmund attacker Marco Reus. After suffering an ACL tear in last season’s DFB-Pokal final, the 28-year-old made his long-awaited comeback on February 10 against Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga.
He’s since played in six more matches for BVB, scoring three goals (including the strike that’s since been voted the Bundesliga’s Goal of the Month for February).
Eighteen years. That’s how long it’s been since the L.A. Galaxy defeated Honduran side CD Olimpia 3-2 in the final of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup, becoming only the second and, to date, final MLS side to win the region’s continental championship.
When D.C. United won the tournament in 1998 with the likes of Roy Lassiter, Jeff Agoos, Eddie Pope and Marco Etcheverry running circles around León and Toluca, there wasn’t the reward of a FIFA Club World Cup.
The greatest footballing nation to have never won the World Cup? It’s the Netherlands. The Oranje have thrice reached the final, losing to hosts West Germany in ’74, hosts Argentina in ’78 and Spain in 2010. The most famous of those defeats came against the Germans, because this was a tournament that had been turned into a pageant for the Dutch vision of Total Football.
One year ago, Barcelona came into the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 down 4-0 on aggregate to PSG. They left with a 6-5 aggregate scoreline after one of the silliest soccer games this professional soccer writer has ever seen. Sergi Roberto's goal broke PSG hearts and shuffled Barca into the quarterfinals to be beaten by eventual runners-up Juventus.
The real heroes here, though, are the referees. I seriously forgot how terrible both penalties Barcelona "won" were. Neither of those are fouls in a just universe.