Game Recaps

Wherever he goes, hardware follows. Now you can add scudetto to the list of Cristiano Ronaldo trophies.

A rampaging run from Ronaldo forced an own goal by Fiorentina’s Germán Pezzella to lift Juventus to a 2-1 victory at Allianz Stadium on Saturday. The three points put the Old Lady 20 points ahead of second-place Napoli. With five matches left (six for Napoli), Juventus cannot be caught and thus claimed its remarkable eighth straight Serie A title.

A Harry Kane-less Tottenham got exactly what it needed in a 4-3 loss to Manchester City as the Spurs will advance to the UCL semifinals, 4-4 on aggregate by way of away goals.

The Spurs held a 1-0 advantage from the previous meeting back in London.

The first goal between Liverpool and Porto at Estádio do Dragão on Wednesday was vital. If Porto scored it, game on; if Liverpool scored it, game over. What’ll be so frustrating for the Portuguese club is that through the match’s opening 25 minutes, the home side had 13 attempts. Porto absolutely bossed Liverpool right up until Sadio Mané had the ball in the back of the net in the 26th minute with the Reds' first shot of the evening.

One of the wildest Champions League matches of all time had one of the wildest endings imaginable.

Tottenham Hotspur — and VAR — threw a wrench into Manchester City’s quest for an unprecedented quadruple on Wednesday at Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Spurs lost 4-3 on the day but advanced 4-4 on aggregate by way of away goals into the Champions League semifinals, where Ajax awaits. 

Ajax has advanced to the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 1997 after tearing Juventus apart with a glorious second-half display of footballing excellence that ultimately yielded the game-winning goal from captain Matthijs de Ligt in the 67th minute.

The Amsterdam-based club scored two at Juventus Stadium — which is an exceptionally rare feat for an away side — but it could’ve been four or five but for the goalkeeping of Wojciech Szczesny and an Ajax desire to combine on six backheels and three disguised reverse passes within the box before every shot. 

The seventh season of NWSL play kicked off on Saturday, and the 2019 campaign will attract more attention than ever since it falls in a World Cup year. With 52 days to go until the main event in France, international players remain with their club sides for the time being. 

However, that’ll soon change, and USWNT call-ups will expect to miss around two months of the season (the Send-Off Series begins on May 12 vs. South Africa and the World Cup final takes place on July 7), although the NWSL will break for group stage play.

It was quite the evening for Serie A’s Atalanta as it hosted visitors Empoli at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia in Bergamo. The sixth place side has been impressive in recent seasons, putting on good performances in the Europa League and doing well in Serie A.

The odds of Atalanta beating Empoli were very high as the visitors sat 18th, in the relegation zone. What looked like quite a routine match was completely turned on its head. No, Empoli did not beat Atalanta with a smash and grab, but Atalanta did not beat Empoli either.

Juventus had no excuse not to be prepared. After what Ajax did to Real Madrid (not to mention Bayern Munich in the group stage), the Bianconeri knew they were in for a fight against the Dutch side. 

After one leg in the Champions League quarterfinals, it’s all even heading back to the Allianz Stadium in Turin. 

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brilliant diving header just before the halftime whistle only to have David Neres score moments into the second half in a 1-1 draw on Tuesday at the Amsterdam Arena. 

Tottenham’s first-ever match at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium went just about perfectly. Its second was pretty spectacular too.

Son Heung-min scored in the 78th minute to propel Spurs to a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.