Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid had everything: goals, red cards, Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez, comebacks, defense, everything. Atletico made Barca work for it, but the Blaugrana came away with a 2-1 win at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona lineup: Ter Stegen; Dani Alves, Mascherano, Pique, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suarez, Neymar. #UCLonFOX
Champions League Quarterfinals kicked off today with Bayern Munich facing Benfica and Barcelona taking on fellow La Liga foes, Atletico Madrid. Fernando Torres opened the scoring for Atletico in the 25th minute, however he was sent off with his second yellow card 10 minutes later. Madrid was down to 10 men and Luis Suarez took advantage when he scored in the 63rd and 74th minute. Barcelona would hold on to the lead and win 2 - 1. Bayern Munich got off to a hot start as Arturo Vidal scored on a header in the 2nd minute. His goal would prove to be the winner.
It’s been over eight years since David Beckham last sported the white of Real Madrid. You can forget a lot in the space of nearly a decade. Couple that time with Beckham’s constant appearances in advertisements, ambassador projects and tabloids, and it’s easy to forget that the man was one hell of a footballer back in the day.
Is Lionel Messi simply too good at soccer? Carlos Tevez believes that Messi’s ability makes him difficult to partner with, because his skill level is so much greater than that of his teammates.
Barcelona and Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is many things to many people. He's a hero, a villain, a family man, a lunatic, the leading scorer in Europe, that guy who bit Giorgio Chiellini, that guy who bit Otman Bakkal, that guy who bit Branislav Ivanovic, that guy who called Patrice Evra the n-word, that guy who batted the ball off the line in the World Cup. He's also filthy stinkin' rich.
How rich is he, though?
To see the goal fast forward to the 2:20 mark.
Imagine you are a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, and you are sitting behind a goal at which he is about to shoot a penalty. Because you are a fan, you know that penalties are his jam, there is arguably no better penalty taker in the world. So a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty should be as sure a bet as there is to see your hero succeed; you are almost guaranteed to get the classic Ronaldo jump-spin celebration. You are probably stoked.
And then, in the case of this fan, you are really not. In this case, you get hit in the face by that Cristiano Ronaldo penalty.
Having one of the worst seasons in his young career, Eden Hazard could be looking to trade that deep blue kit for an all-white kit in the Spanish capital. Before this season, Hazard was one of the top young talents in all of Europe, especially the summer of his big move to Chelsea.
Racking up 49 goals in 162 games as well as a few trophies his first couple of seasons, Hazard was the new face of Chelsea FC. Unfortunately, a poor season for Hazard has taken all that from the young Belgian.
Johan Cruyff, a Barcelona, Netherlands and Ajax legend as both a player and manager, one of the giants of the game, one of the figures chiefly responsible for the way soccer is played today, has died from cancer at age 68.
A statement on WorldofJohanCruyff.com read:
On March 24 2016 Johan Cruyff (68) died peacefully in Barcelona, surrounded by his family after a hard fought battle with cancer. It’s with great sadness that we ask you to respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief.
Gerard Pique is one of the winningest defenders alive. The Spaniard has won the World Cup, UEFA Euro and Champions league, a career treble the likes of which makes the more commonly known treble of the Champions League, domestic league, and domestic cup look pedestrian (he’s won two of those as well, by the way).