The 2019 Champions League quarterfinal draw set up some intriguing matchups for English Premier League clubs on Friday. Manchester City and Tottenham face off in an all-England clash while Manchester United drew Barcelona and Liverpool was paired with Porto. Ajax faces Juventus in the fourth quarterfinal.
Schalke finally let go of Domenico Tedesco today. The young German manager had a fantastic first season with the Gelsenkirchen side after moving from Ezgebirge Aue in the 2. Bundesliga. Tedesco guided Die Königsblauen to a second place finish in the Bundesliga last season and a Champions League berth.
Domenico #Tedesco has been relieved of his duties with immediate effect.
After a scoreless first leg that was defined by Luis Suarez not playing very well, the Uruguayan enjoyed a vital role in Barcelona’s 5-1 second-leg victory over Lyon at the Camp Nou on Wednesday. However, the man of the match was Lionel Messi, who scored two goals and added two assists to ease his side into the Champions League quarterfinals.
Alexis Sanchez, right now, is a disappointment, and that’s not up for debate.
Since signing for Manchester United, his performances have been inconsistent and for the most part poor. While he has contributed to some important goals for United, Sanchez still makes the Red Devils play like they have 10 men on the pitch. United’s recent injury crisis could have been Sanchez’s chance to prove himself, but yet again he has fallen short.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been rumored to want to offload the Chilean in the summer, as he’s racking up quite the wage bill in Manchester.
First things first, before we talk about controversy or points of contention with referees, we have to simply talk about the game and how it actually flowed. After Atlético Madrid’s sensational performance at the Wanda Metropolitano on Feb. 20, this was an absolute debacle at Juventus Stadium on Tuesday.
It’s difficult to remember a time when Diego Simeone got things so ineffably wrong. How could Atlético go from this (cojones):
The mission seemed impossible for Juventus after the first leg.
A defeat at Atletico Madrid meant the Old Lady needed three goals without allowing one against one of the best defenses in all of Europe.
But Juventus has something this year it’s never had before: Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former Real Madrid superstar paid off his immense transfer fee with one incredible performance, scoring a hat trick to lead Juventus to a 3-2 aggregate win in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday in Turin.
As Manchester United wildly celebrated two ludicrously self-inflicted PSG errors and a contentious, VAR-influenced handball decision to advance to the last eight of Europe (we won’t begrudge Red Devil supporters after the life and times of David Moyes, LVG and Jose Mourinho, but if you thought Liverpool fans were getting annoying with the EPL title at hand, this is a stern reminder that United’s fanbase is built of the exact same stuff), PSG was left to rue another night of historical ineptitude.
Manchester United has traveled to Paris with a midfield anchored by Scott McTominay, Andreas Pereira and Fred along with a substitutes’ bench of assorted children and overturned a 2-0 deficit to eliminate PSG from the Champions League.
When Barcelona recorded its unbelievable comeback win over Paris Saint-Germain two years ago at the Camp Nou, it was a story about a brilliant team coming together to defy the odds.
When Manchester United recorded its unbelievable comeback win over PSG on Wednesday, it was a story that made everyone watching feel yucky (Manchester United fans aside).
We got 10 years of Pepe at Real Madrid, and if time weren’t such a cruel mistress, we could’ve been blessed with 10 more. I, for one, would welcome an eternal version of Pepe, a timeless incarnation of shithousery that doesn’t care about VAR now being a thing — a mad lad with his face cast in an eternal scowl, eyebrows bulging cartoonishly from his skull and always looking for fingers to stomp on and fouls suffered to greatly exaggerate.