Let's start this Champions League match report with one particular talking point: Change is always difficult, especially for our soccer overlords in England, and there's going to be a lot written about how Real Madrid's negative approach at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday exemplifies UEFA's mistaken decision to do away with the away goals rule.
Real Madrid’s Casemiro will miss the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain for yellow card accumulation. The Brazilian picked up a yellow card in the first half at the Parc de Princes for a hard tackle on Leandro Paredes. Casemiro should consider himself lucky to have not seen a red card for what happened after the tackle.
While the incident is brief, Casemiro clearly grabs a hold of Paredes’ neck after the challenge.
The knockout stages of the Champions League begin Tuesday with what's arguably the most eagerly anticipated Round of 16 matchup ever — a clash between the club that never settles for anything less than lifting the trophy, record 13-time winner Real Madrid, and the club whose entire apparatus is hellbent on making that happen for the first time, PSG.
Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo apologized for his "unfortunate gesture" in Sunday's 2-2 LaLiga draw away at city rivals Espanyol, saying the "tension" of the match led to the incident.
Araújo appeared to be taking aim at Espanyol midfielder Nico Melamed while he was leaving the field towards the end of the match, which saw both teams have a player sent off.
MADRID — A last-minute goal from substitute Mario Hermoso gave Atletico Madrid the victory in a seven-goal thriller as they beat Getafe 4-3 at home on Saturday.
The helter-skelter game saw six goals in the first-half, as well as a missed penalty, before Hermoso — who had been brought on after Atletico defender Felipe was dismissed in the second period — sent the Wanda Metropolitano into raptures and his team into fourth place in the table.
THIS MATCH WINNING GOAL FROM MARIO HERMOSO
Every league has that one team that isn't really all that good but just seems to hang around for far longer than they should. They don't spend much, they don't play entertaining football, and they never really win any big games. Yet when the season ends, they are always mid-table.
In the 2010s, that team in England was Wigan Athletic, as Roberto Martínez's brand of "Guerilla Soccer" kept an underfunded Latics side in the Premier League for eight years.
Manchester United returned to the top of the table on Monday but not the one they were hoping for as they were named the club with the biggest transfer losses in the last decade, splashing out more than $1.14 billion on players.
A study published by Switzerland-based independent research group CIES Football Observatory revealed United had a net spend of $1.23 billion since 2012, spending $1.77 billion on transfers while making $538 million back in player sales.
Barcelona and Atlético Madrid played out an instant classic at the Camp Nou on Sunday with the hosts, despite being a man down for over 20 minutes, winning 4-2 to reenter the LaLiga top four for the first time since matchweek three.
Luis Suárez kept Atléti in it, but Adama Traoré was electric in his first game since arriving on loan from Wolves, and the 38-year-old Dani Alves stole the headlines with a goal, assist and straight red card during his 69 minutes on the pitch.
Athletic Club has lost in the previous two Copa del Rey finals but the Basque club is absolutely determined to win the trophy for the first time since 1984. That determination has come in the form of knocking out Barcelona and Real Madrid in back-to-back rounds.
The hosts knocked Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey Thursday with a dramatic last-minute goal.