Paris Saint-Germain was always going to be facing an uphill battle. After allowing three unanswered goals in a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, a comeback became even more unlikely when Neymar injured himself right before his sister’s birthday. But the Brazilian really missed by PSG vs Real Madrid in the Champions League was not Neymar but experienced defender Dani Alves.
No player has appeared more in the UEFA Champions League than FC Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas. Today, the 36-year-old shot-stopper made his 167th appearance in the competition in Porto’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool (ultimately a 5-0 aggregate win for the Reds).
Casillas also holds the Champions League clean sheet record, a mark he improved to 59 today.
In the 77th minute of PSG’s routine 3-0 victory over Marseille Sunday night, a seemingly innocuous moment led to Neymar remaining on the ground while play continued around him. 10 seconds later, with Neymar still writhing in agony and in clear discomfort, PSG played the ball out so their Brazilian star could receive treatment.
Neymar was then stretchered off the field while crying inconsolably. For many, the world’s most expensive player had clearly just suffered a serious injury (perhaps a broken ankle), calling into question his participation at the World Cup.
Lionel Messi is the second-highest goalscorer in Champions League history, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi has scored 98 Champions League goals in his career so far, and we were wondering which countries he has done the most damage against. So, we went through all of Messi's goals and figured out the countries that house the clubs Messi has scored the most goals against.
Fred (No not that Fred. The other Fred. The good Fred.) set Shakhtar Donetsk down the path toward Champions League quarterfinal qualification with a well-placed free kick that gave Shakhtar a 2-1 victory over Roma. The second leg is still to be played of course, and Roma have an away goal, but let's not think about such things right now because all the focus should be on Fred's goal.
It takes something special to beat Roma goalkeeper Alisson when he's on his game, and Fred's goal absolutely qualifies as something special.
Back in 2003, NHL goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. He was unreal, but the following offseason, with Giguere’s infamously large gear the inspiration, the NHL implemented pad restrictions and a $25K fine for teams found guilty of ignoring the rule. In essence, Giguere could no longer resemble the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.
Watching David de Gea tend the net is like watching Giguere in the days of yore. He’s obviously cheating.
The Lionel Messi goal vs Chelsea gave Barcelona a vital away goal after the first leg in the Champions League Round of 16 as the teams played to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge. It was his first goal in nine career matches against the Blues. But it was all about that assist from Andres Iniesta, three seconds that perfectly summed up the Spaniard’s brilliance.
Although there’s no more difficult away trip in all of football than Besiktas’ Vodafone Park, Bayern Munich’s 5-0 first leg win over the Turkish giants has almost certainly given the Bavarian side a place in the Champions League quarterfinals, which would be the club's seventh consecutive appearance in the last eight.
For 16 minutes, a battle between first in Germany and fourth in Turkey figured to be an engaging affair, but then, Besiktas captain and Canadian legend Atiba Hutchinson played a dreadful back pass which was pounced on by Robert Lewandowski.
For at least a decade or two, England and Spain have been home to the two best soccer leagues in the world. La Liga and Premier League clubs have consistently been the two most competitive in the Champions League since the rebranding of the tournament for the 1992-93 season. So what happens when we get an England vs Spain Champions League matchup? Historically, one league has won a lot more often: La Liga.
No surprise really, but the first leg of the Real Madrid-PSG Champions League Round of 16 matchup was a huge success for broadcasters as the two-time defending champions rallied for a 3-1 victory on Wednesday in Madrid. As the numbers from the Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings begin to trickle in, we’re beginning to learn just how big of a deal the match was for countries around the world, especially those without a team in the fight.