Champions League Round of 16 Roundup
The UEFA Champions League has already given us some big moments already even going back as last week but there were still four games left to go to see who will join FC Porto, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspurs and Ajax in the last eight. Here's the recap of this week's UCL games.
Atléti really hate facing Ronaldo
Atlético Madrid must really hate the sight of Cristiano Ronaldo after his inspiring performance for Juventus as the Serie A champions beat Atléti 3-0 on Tuesday night at the Juventus Stadium and go through 3-2 on aggregate. Atlético had the advantage going to the second leg following their 2-0 win at home forcing the Old Lady to do something really special to go through and they had that in the form of CR7. Ronaldo was at it again, scoring a hat-trick with two towering headers as he has now scored 22 headers in the UCL and the winning goal which was a penalty in the 86th minute. That was Ronaldo's eighth hat-trick in the Champions League, level with Lionel Messi and two of them have been against Atlético which shows much they can't stand the Portuguese and have scored 63 goals in the knockout stages, showing how much he lives for the big moments. While Ronaldo with get the headlines, Juventus put the pressure on Atlético from the very beginning with both Federico Bernardeschi and João Cancelo having a fantastic showing, bombing down the left hand side to supply crosses for Ronaldo and Mandužkic. As for Atlético, it was a poor showing preferring to sit back and offered nothing going forward with no shots on target. Antonie Griezmann was totally anonymous, Lemar had a terrible game, Juanfran was exploited at left-back and they missed the likes of Lucas and Thomas Partey. This was a statement win for the Old Lady as they looks like favourites to win it and with Ronaldo as their X Factor, it's easy to see why.
Magical seven for City
Manchester City were safely through to the quarterfinals after a ridiculous 7-0 win against Schalke at the Etihad on Tuesday. City were clear favourites to go through following their 3-2 win away at Gelsenkirchen in the first leg and they put up a football clinic on the Bundesliga side, opening them with total ease. Sergio Agüero got things started, scoring two goals with the space of three while Leroy Sané scored against his former club again to make it 3-0 at halftime but the worst was just to come for Schalke. Sané was totally at it providing three assists in the second half for Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva with Gabriel Jesus netting City's seventh ending the 7-0 and an amazing 10-2 on aggregate. It's hard to single out a player for City as everyone was on song but a special mention has to go to Ilkay Gündogan who played in for Fernandinho and was tidy in midfield. For City, their fantastic form in 2019 continues and they look like they are finally coming of age in the Champions League. They have scored 26 goals this season in the UCL, the most of any Premier League and with their options in attack, they can find ways to score. As for Schalke, the humiliating defeat is a clear reflection of their season, as they 14th in the Bundesliga after finishing second last season and looks like manager Domenico Tedesco will be booted out from the VELTINS-Arena but now that they are out, it could help them in getting a respectable finish in the league with a lot of drama behind the scenes.
Messi scored twice as Barça score five
Following Ronaldo's exploits on Tuesday, all eyes were on Lionel Messi and he had an amazing performance, scoring and assisting twice in Barcelona's 5-1 win against Lyon yesterday at the Camp Nou and are through to the quarterfinals with the same scoreline on aggregate. The first leg in France ended the numerous chances Barcelona created but failed to capitalize. Barcelona had an early penalty as Luis Suárez was fouled in the penalty and Messi scored Barça's first with a paneka to kick things off. Philippe Coutinho scored Barça's second with Suárez laying the ball for the Brazilian, scoring an open goal. In the second half, Lyon were back in the game with Lucas Tousart, capitalizing on an error from Ter Stegen who failed to catch the ball from a cross, allowing the Frenchman to score which made things nervy for Barcelona. However, Messi came to the rescue once again, scoring a sublime goal opening the Lyon defence fooling both Marcelo and Denayer before slotting it in despite the Lyon keeper getting a hand to it. Gerard Pique and Ousmané Dembélé scored the final two goals ending a comprehensive win for the five-time European champions as this is their 12th successive season of reaching the quarterfinals.
Super Mané takes Liverpool through
Atléti really hate facing Ronaldo
Atlético Madrid must really hate the sight of Cristiano Ronaldo after his inspiring performance for Juventus as the Serie A champions beat Atléti 3-0 on Tuesday night at the Juventus Stadium and go through 3-2 on aggregate. Atlético had the advantage going to the second leg following their 2-0 win at home forcing the Old Lady to do something really special to go through and they had that in the form of CR7. Ronaldo was at it again, scoring a hat-trick with two towering headers as he has now scored 22 headers in the UCL and the winning goal which was a penalty in the 86th minute. That was Ronaldo's eighth hat-trick in the Champions League, level with Lionel Messi and two of them have been against Atlético which shows much they can't stand the Portuguese and have scored 63 goals in the knockout stages, showing how much he lives for the big moments. While Ronaldo with get the headlines, Juventus put the pressure on Atlético from the very beginning with both Federico Bernardeschi and João Cancelo having a fantastic showing, bombing down the left hand side to supply crosses for Ronaldo and Mandužkic. As for Atlético, it was a poor showing preferring to sit back and offered nothing going forward with no shots on target. Antonie Griezmann was totally anonymous, Lemar had a terrible game, Juanfran was exploited at left-back and they missed the likes of Lucas and Thomas Partey. This was a statement win for the Old Lady as they looks like favourites to win it and with Ronaldo as their X Factor, it's easy to see why.
Magical seven for City
Manchester City were safely through to the quarterfinals after a ridiculous 7-0 win against Schalke at the Etihad on Tuesday. City were clear favourites to go through following their 3-2 win away at Gelsenkirchen in the first leg and they put up a football clinic on the Bundesliga side, opening them with total ease. Sergio Agüero got things started, scoring two goals with the space of three while Leroy Sané scored against his former club again to make it 3-0 at halftime but the worst was just to come for Schalke. Sané was totally at it providing three assists in the second half for Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva with Gabriel Jesus netting City's seventh ending the 7-0 and an amazing 10-2 on aggregate. It's hard to single out a player for City as everyone was on song but a special mention has to go to Ilkay Gündogan who played in for Fernandinho and was tidy in midfield. For City, their fantastic form in 2019 continues and they look like they are finally coming of age in the Champions League. They have scored 26 goals this season in the UCL, the most of any Premier League and with their options in attack, they can find ways to score. As for Schalke, the humiliating defeat is a clear reflection of their season, as they 14th in the Bundesliga after finishing second last season and looks like manager Domenico Tedesco will be booted out from the VELTINS-Arena but now that they are out, it could help them in getting a respectable finish in the league with a lot of drama behind the scenes.
Messi scored twice as Barça score five
Following Ronaldo's exploits on Tuesday, all eyes were on Lionel Messi and he had an amazing performance, scoring and assisting twice in Barcelona's 5-1 win against Lyon yesterday at the Camp Nou and are through to the quarterfinals with the same scoreline on aggregate. The first leg in France ended the numerous chances Barcelona created but failed to capitalize. Barcelona had an early penalty as Luis Suárez was fouled in the penalty and Messi scored Barça's first with a paneka to kick things off. Philippe Coutinho scored Barça's second with Suárez laying the ball for the Brazilian, scoring an open goal. In the second half, Lyon were back in the game with Lucas Tousart, capitalizing on an error from Ter Stegen who failed to catch the ball from a cross, allowing the Frenchman to score which made things nervy for Barcelona. However, Messi came to the rescue once again, scoring a sublime goal opening the Lyon defence fooling both Marcelo and Denayer before slotting it in despite the Lyon keeper getting a hand to it. Gerard Pique and Ousmané Dembélé scored the final two goals ending a comprehensive win for the five-time European champions as this is their 12th successive season of reaching the quarterfinals.
Super Mané takes Liverpool through
Sadio Mané scored twice, continuing his rich vein in form as Liverpool going through beating Bayern Munich 3-1 yesterday at the Allianz Arena and on aggregate. This game was a tossup following the first leg at Anfield which ended scoreless with Bayern knowing a win will see them through with Liverpool needed at least a scored draw despite their poor form away from home in the Champions League losing their last four. Things didn't start well for the Reds as they were forced to make an early change with Fabinho coming on for Jordan Henderson. Liverpool went in front from Mané who received a ball from Virgil van Dijk before turning away from Manuel Neuer and finding the net, giving Liverpool the advantage of the away goal. Bayern found their equalizer from Serge Gnabry, playing a dangerous cross which found the back of the net by an own goal from Joël Matip. Van Dijk scored Liverpool's second a set piece jumping above Javi Martinez to score a thumping header. Mané scored again, leaving Bayern no chance of coming back with the Senegalese slotting it home from a great cross from Mohamed Salah. It was a poor night for Bayern despite the amount of possession they had but Liverpool controlled the game and kept Lewandowski quiet while Liverpool go through with a big win in their season.
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