Barcelona

Manchester United started brightly against Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Tuesday. Marcus Rashford was in on goal and nearly scored seconds into the match. 

And the Red Devils had a bit of fortune when the VAR overturned a penalty decision to keep the scores level.

Then Lionel Messi broke loose with two goals in four minutes, quickly making up for a quiet first leg in Manchester (after being bloodied by Chris Smalling). 

In the Champions League quarterfinals, Barcelona came out with a solid 1-0 away victory over Manchester United.

It only took 12 minutes for Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez magic to commence, but neither will be credited for the Barcelona score.

A fantastic cross from the GOAT found Suarez on the far post. Suarez then headed it into traffic in front of the United goal and a bounce off left back Luke Shaw would be all she wrote for Manchester.

Although Lionel Messi is consistently targeted by opposing defenses, it’s rare that he takes too much physical abuse from opponents. Quick on his feet and with a low center of gravity, the Barcelona No. 10 is usually able to avoid the brunt of challenges he faces. 

But when he’s attacked from behind, as he was by Manchester United’s Chris Smalling, there’s little Messi can do to prevent harm.

Manchester United’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Barcelona did not start well.

The Blaugrana (or neon yellows, as it was), opened the scoring a dozen minutes into the match at Old Trafford on Tuesday thanks to some interplay from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez — and some help from the Video Assistant Referee.

Late work in the visual arts, like those of Rembrandt, can often showcase an artist at their most profound. What’s revealed is the certainty of a master — the piece stands apart from the contemporary and proclaims its own thingness. With that being said, have a look at what Xavi’s aging right foot is up to.

It painted a stunning work in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Tuesday during Al Sadd’s Asian Champions League group stage match against Pakhtakor. 

In the sixth minute of the match, here’s the 39-year-old going top bins after ambling his way to the top of the box. 

Mentally, Diego Costa isn’t entirely there. Look at the 26 yellow cards he received over his three-year Premier League stay for ample evidence of the striker’s propensity to be a mad lad. 

Jan Oblak is the best goalkeeper in the world right now. Period. End of discussion.

Oblak, the 26-year-old Slovenian and Atlético Madrid No. 1, put on a masterful display against Barcelona on Saturday at the Camp Nou. 

But it was in vain.

Luis Suarez hit a perfect strike to break the deadlock and Lionel Messi took advantage of a dazed defense moments later as Barcelona scored twice late to beat 10-man Atlético Madrid in a massive LaLiga match, a potential title-decider. 

Hop into The18 time machine and travel back to Jan. 23, 2017, to see “Borussia Dortmund Beat Real Madrid To The Signing Of 17-Year-Old Swedish Phenom” Alexander Isak. After breaking through with AIK and scoring 10 goals during his debut Allsvenskan season, “the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic” made further waves by becoming Sweden’s youngest-ever international goalscorer. 

Relegation-threatened Villarreal almost recorded a stunning victory over LaLiga leader Barcelona at El Madrigal, and the result would’ve certainly meant more to the Yellow Submarine’s survival than to the Blaugrana’s title charge, but Lionel Messi was inserted with 30 minutes remaining and you know what happened after that.