Europe

Ten years ago today, a roguish little imp touched down in the Camp Nou and began to do things with the football that this planet had never seen before. It’s said that he was 19 years of age at the time, and his well shampooed mop of hair, preciously pushed back with a hairband, and wiry frame do allude to an awkward period in life, but to highlight your greatness at such a tender age by scoring a hat trick against Real Madrid in El Clasico, that defies all notions we have of the effect of time on a person.

We all spend hours debating and arguing why a particular handball was called or not, especially when it happens in the 18-yard box. Looking at FIFA’s Laws of the Game, the handball rule is written as followed:

FIFA Laws of the Game P. 82: Handling the ball 

Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with the hand or arm.

Wednesday’s historic match between Barcelona and PSG has already entered footballing lore alongside Germany’s 7-1 destruction of Brazil and Portugal’s improbable victory over France. These are matches that, in today’s day and age, will always provide us with a good laugh and meme. PSG’s capitulation is now part of the comical DNA of the game.

Esteban Cambiasso might just be the most interesting footballer in the world. His lasting legacy will be as Jose Mourinho’s defensive midfield marshal during Inter Milan’s unprecedented Italian treble in 2009-10, but he’s only added to his legacy since that historic season. 

Lost in all the madness that was Leicester City’s title-winning run last year was the influence of the man who made it all possible in the first place — Esteban Cambiasso.

Bayern Munich will be losing a legendary player in Xabi Alonso. The Spanish midfield general has announced his decision to retire at the end of the season.

Lived it. Loved it.

Farewell beautiful game. pic.twitter.com/1aSN7GGNzZ

— Xabi Alonso (@XabiAlonso) March 9, 2017

The Олимп-2 pitch in Rostov-on-Don was frozen. It was wonderfully patchy and Jose Mourinho wondered if you could even call it a field at all. His desire to have the venue changed was laughed off by a UEFA official, Mourinho claiming the official told him “the players are insured, so if something happens, no problem.”

The fight for second place in Serie A is serious business. Roma and Napoli are not fighting solely for the privilege of finishing behind Juventus, but battling to avoid a Champions League playoff qualifying spot. So bad is the history of Italian teams in the playoff rounds that Italy has, more often than not in recent years, only had two representatives in the group stages of Europe’s premier footballing tournament.

Thus, when Roma and Napoli played one another this weekend, the chance to finish in second was up for grabs.

After a disappointing Bundesliga campaign that finds them in 10th, Bayer Leverkusen have decided to relieve Roger Schmidt of his coaching duties. Schmidt was in his third season with the club before getting the sack.

The final straw was a devastating 6-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund. It was Leverkusen's fourth loss in six Bundesliga games. 

Before Wednesday’s historic events at the Camp Nou, everyone had agreed that Barcelona would need to play a perfect match to turn the tide against Paris Saint-Germain. They would need to do unto PSG as PSG had done unto them. Sure, Barcelona could score four goals, but could they keep Edinson Cavani, Lucas Moura, Julian Draxler and Angel Di Maria off the scoresheet? 

Barcelona’s historic comeback on Wednesday night will serve as a landmark for Champions League football for as long as the competition exists. After that horrific performance in Paris that saw the Catalan side thrashed 4-0, it’s safe to say that nobody outside of Barcelona thought they could mount a comeback. Yet somehow they managed to pull through to the quarters, even with giving up the away goal that many expected to be their demise.