Tottenham 1-0 Manchester City
Oof, Man City blew a big opportunity early: handball in the box--looked harmless live but clear penalty on the replay--but the PK was saved! Would've been a totally different game if Man City converts that not even five minutes in. I generally thought Man City was the more dangerous side in the 1st half. But it was Tottenham that took the lead in the 2nd half: dude looked offside to me, then the ball looked out of bounds to me, but he was able to bring it back and sneak it past the keeper, all of which survived the replay. Pretty even all in all but Tottenham made the big play and made it hold up. Again, though, if Man City made that PK, their chances throughout the game would've become all the more dangerous. Man City has a good chance of pulling this out back home but for now Tottenham is in control.
Liverpool 2-0 Porto
Liverpool's attack was just too much for Porto. Liverpool scored an early goal (a deflection off the defender that froze the keeper) and then another before half (combination passing sliced and diced the Porto back line). The 2nd half was a bit of a snooze. Porto had some chances, they weren't dead out there, but Liverpool's attack controlled the game and I suspect will control the return match, too. Liverpool looks good to move on.
Ajax 1-1 Juventus
Even contest, thought Ajax had better chances but Juventus was dangerous, too. Juve took the lead before halftime on a beautiful header by Ronaldo (how does he get so wide open in front of the goal like that? Reminds me of how Kobe always managed to get free right under the basket for easy put backs). But Ajax got it back early in the 2nd: defender saved a ball that he easily could've let go out of bounds, striker snatches it from him, then drills one in traffic (keeper was flat footed, kinda looked like he was ball-watching, but that shot came out a step quicker than he thought it would, I reckon). I generally thought Ajax was the better side, had better chances, but they really could've used another goal. Gotta favor Juventus going back home, though I think the sides are fairly equal and should make for the most exciting 2nd leg.
Manchester United 0-1 Barcelona
You just can't let Messi get the ball in front of the goal like that if you want to win. Even taking the ball away from goal, he finds Suarez on the other side for the easy strike; thought the late off-side call made this more dramatic than it needed to be, glad to see the replay cleared up the confusion (and kinda cheesy to call that an own-goal, it was going in anyway). Barca pretty well controlled the entire game, Man U is the 8th best team in these quarterfinals and they have not gotten off to a good start. Gotta liked Barca to pile it on back home.
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