2018-19 Champions League (Round of 16)

2nd Leg

Real Madrid 1-4 Ajax (agg. 3-5)
Wow! I was more impressed with Ajax in the 1st leg than I expected to be but I didn't think they'd pull out the victory but, man, they pulled it! Ajax scored early, then scored again right away to take control of the game. Real had chances, hit the post a few times and attacked effectively, but Vinicus (who is really becoming the star of the side) was out of sync in this match and Real was powerless to replace his offense. Ajax wanted it more, played as a team, attacked consistently and kept Real frustrated on the defensive end. Great win for Ajax, really announced themselves as a tough out going forward; been rugged coupla weeks for Real, this season is a major disappointment for them in their first season without Ronaldo (feels like there's gonna be a lotta coming and going for Madrid this summer, I can see Benzema and Marcelo moving on).

Dortmund 0-1 Tottenham (agg 0-4)
In the first leg, I thought Dortmund just had a bad run of luck and found themselves buried; in the 2nd leg, they just never got going and when Kane drilled one early in the 2nd half, the game was pretty much over. The two teams were much more evenly matched than the score would suggest, Tottenham got hot at the right time and Dortmund couldn't recover. Hard to tell how good Tottenham is but they were the better team in this match up. 

Porto 3-1 Roma (agg 4-3)
This was a long rugged match that went deep into over time to determine who would move on. Porto got the penalty call they needed (meh, I thought it was a 50/50 call) and Roma did not get the penalty call they needed (meh, I thought it was a 50/50 call) a few minutes later to keep their hopes alive. I didn't love either of these teams, they were more workmanlike than talented but I kinda think Roma was the better side.

Paris St Germain 1-3 Manchester United (agg 3-3)
Wtf...? This is as bizarre a result as I've seen since that Pats-Falcons Super Bowl. This one kinda played like an NCAA basketball game: PSG just wanted to slow everything down and keep all offense to a minimum so they settled into a ball control formation and seemed content to just play keep-away for 90 minutes. Yeah...that's tough to do, man. Manchester got a fluke goal early (fantastic effort but it was tentative half-assed play in the defensive backfield that put the keeper in an impossible situation). PSG tied it up pretty soon after, seemed to take the control of the game back, but then settled back into a time-killing mode. But, again, this is tough to accomplish and Manchester took the 2-1 lead right before halftime to make a game of it again. In the 2nd half PSG successfully killed time...almost. In extra-time, a searching ball into the box caught a defender's arm earning the game-winning PK as time expired. Calling that a handball was kinda questionable (he was up in the air, had his back turned to the ball, nothing about it was intentional) but even more was how did they determine he was in this box? Weird play, weird reaction, weird ending. I can't help thinking that PSG was a much better team than Man U and them not being in the semifinals must  be a real shock in Paris; likewise in Manchester, where the fans must also be pretty shocked that they're still in it.

Manchester City 7-0 Schalke (agg 10-2)
Not a good day for Schalke. Man City blitzed them for three quick goals right before halftime, which pretty much ended it right there. City piled on (and on) in the 2nd half, barely even felt like Schalke was on the field. It was gonna be an uphill battle for Schalke to begin with but that was all over by halftime. Man City looks good but not this good, so hard to judge their chances going forward.

Juventus 3-0 Atletico Madrid (agg 3-2)
Ronaldo, man, that guy was built to play this game. Juve needed 3 goals so he went out and got 3 goals. Atletico made a game of it, this was still very much up in the air til a late PK sealed the deal for Juve. Both teams were pretty evenly matched, I guess; Atletico is the deeper side but Juve has Ronaldo. Juve is gonna be a tough out going forward but I don't see them as a favorite.

Bayern 1-3 Liverpool (agg 1-3)
This reminded me of an NFL game: this was a field position game and Bayern's offense just couldn't keep their gains up front, which doomed their defense. The Bayern D played really well but ran out of gas because the offense was non-existent. Liverpool's attack was just too much and controlled the 2nd half without much problem. Bayern is in for a major shakeup this summer: Lewandowski is having a good year but no one else is so I can see Robben, Ribery, Rodriguez, maybe even Neuer and Boateng elsewhere next fall. Liverpool, on the other hand, has a really good offense and they can be dangerous going forward.

Barcelona 5-1 Lyon (agg 5-1)
Strangely this game wasn't as lopsided as the score suggests. Barca scored early, took a 2-0 before halftime. But Lyon scored and made it a game again fairly early in the 2nd half. Then Barca blew up down the stretch (I didn't even see the last goal, now that I think of it) and comfortably packed it in but Lyon had more moxy and more chances than you think. But make no mistake, Barcelona was the better team and probably the favorite to win it all. 


The semifinal match-ups:
Tottenham v Manchester City
This is a tough one. These two English sides so thoroughly throttled their German opponents that its hard to tell how good either of them actually are. I think Man City is better...but I dunno. I'll go with Man City.

Liverpool v Porto
Porto is gonna dig in and play tough, I expect a much more defensive performance than they displayed against Roma. But I think Liverpool's attack is gonna be too much for them and if Liverpool brings it, Porto will be left with counterattacking options only, I just don't see how they score enough to move on. I'll take Liverpool.

Manchester United v Barcelona
Does Man U make the most of their second chance? Or do they get run out of town like a team that doesn't really deserve to be here? Since I have no questions at all about Barcelona, I'm thinking it's gonna be the latter for Manchester. I'll take Barcelona.

Ajax v Juventus
Dang! I don't want to see these two against each other. These are the two wily underdogs that will give fits to higher ranked opponents. Ajax really impressed me against Real Madrid, they held their formation and moved forward in conservative-but-aggressive fashion that was devastating at times. Juventus probably has more talent (and more expectation) but they also have Ronaldo, clearly the best player in this match. I dunno, man, I wanna go with Ajax as the scrappy underdog that shocks the Italian superpower, but I kinda think one Ronaldo is worth a team of scrappy underdogs. I'll go with Juventus.