Highlights

Add another zero to Antoine Griezmann’s transfer fee. After the Atletico Madrid forward leads France to 2018 World Cup glory while winning the tournament’s Golden Boot, he will now cost either Barcelona, Manchester United or PSG roughly sixty-eight trillion dollars. 

It’s a princely sum to pay, but as showcased here and on the evidence of last five years of European football, it’s totally worth it. The Greasy Spice is the man your club needs, the man your father wishes you were and the boyfriend everyone wishes they had. 

The Supercopa Argentina is a relatively new competition pitting the winner of the Argentine Primera División and the Copa Argentina, first played in 2012. Wednesday night’s edition was by far the best one yet, with a River Plate vs Boca Juniors Supercopa Superclásico. 

It’s rare for the Superclásico to be a part of a cup final. The only other River Plate vs Boca Juniors match in such an event was 1976, a Boca victory. 

Given the rarity of such an event, the scenes were epic, even for a match that doesn’t hold too much weight, kind of like the Community Shield in England. 

Chivas defeated the Seattle Sounders 3-0 at the Estadio Akron Wednesday night in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal, comfortably overturning a 1-0 first leg deficit by the 55th minute. Oswaldo Alanis, Eduardo Lopez and Jose Godinez scored the goals to complete the semifinal bracket: it’s Chivas vs. the New York Red Bulls on one side and Club America vs. Toronto FC on the other.

The attacking trifecta of Lionel Messi (two goals, one assist), Luis Suarez (two assists) and Ousmane Dembele (scorer of his first goal for Barca) combined to devastating effect to send Barcelona into the Champions League quarterfinals, 4-1 on aggregate over Chelsea.

Samuel Umtiti was the standout performer in Barca’s defense, and although Chelsea twice struck the woodwork, the 3-0 victory on the night was well deserved for the La Liga leaders.

What do Lionel Messi Champions League goals number 99 and 100 have in common? Both humiliated Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois by rolling through his legs before nestling into the back of the net.

It’s an absolute disaster for Chelsea as three minutes of Barcelona possession straight from kick off has been ultimately rewarded with the opener from Lionel Messi. 

Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic dictated play in Chelsea’s half straight away, but there was no penetration before the ball was suddenly in the back of the net. 

19 - After failing to score in his first 10 Champions League appearances against English teams, Lionel Messi has since netted 19 goals in his last 18 games. Haunt.

Thomas Muller just about nailed Wednesday's Bayern Munich-Besiktas outcome during a press conference prior to the match.

This is the most German trash talk ever pic.twitter.com/yW3f534COk

— Luke Zimmermann (@lukezim) March 14, 2018

Landon Donovan has gotten off the mark for his new club, Leon. In a sense, that is. We'll give it to him.

Donovan came on as a substitute in Leon's Copa MX clash against Atletico Zacatepec, and managed to stick around until the penalty shootout.

Leon ended up losing the shootout 7-6, but one of the penalty takers was talented American youngster Landon Donovan.

WHACK.

After a thrilling 3-2 Tigres win in Monterrey pulled the Liga MX club level with Toronto FC on aggregate in the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals, the defending MLS Cup champions advanced to the semifinals over the Liga MX Apertura Champions on away goals.

Toronto FC needed a lucky Tigres own goal, some Sebastian Giovinco magic (he scored a free kick, as per usual) and a little more luck to withstand a late Tigres rally in order to advance, but advance they did. 

Consider it karma for Jose Mourinho. The Special One used boring tactics to beat Liverpool on Saturday and tried similarly cynical tactics on Tuesday for Manchester United vs Sevilla. This time, the result was a stunning 2-1 defeat, the Red Devils going out in the Champions League Round of 16.