Paris St. Germaine 1-0 Real Madrid
Thought PSG more or less dominated the 1st half but never did score. Real's defense was able to effectively swoosh PSG away but never seemed particularly dangerous on the counter. PSG is the better team but they probably feel like they should've scored by the half. Messi missed a PK (nice save!), really hurts if they don't find the goal by the conclusion. PSG is still more likely to score but they have yet to solve Real's defense. Marcelo ha a nice night, though Vini, Kruse and Modric never did get anything going. PSG still dominated possession in the 2nd half and even after bringing in Neymar in the 70th minute, they never got terribly frisky around the goal.
Then minutes into Extra Time, Mbappe splits two defenders on the wing and gets a quick rip before the next defender can recover and goes five-hole on the Keeper. Such a thing of beauty and the perfect finish to what was a mostly frustrating match.
Messi is still money on the ball, Neymar can always get loose, but Mbappe never really got his due in this game til the final moments. Worked out but I can help wonder if Messi and Neymar steal too much focus from the real star of this squad (and is that a good or bad thing?). Obviously it's early, but PSG is definitely one to watch.
Sporting Lisbon 0-5 Manchester City
Man City attacked better than Sporting. Early on, got a wide open shot on some crazy action in front of the goal; initially waived off for off-sides, overturned on replay (the correct call). Followed that soon after with a nasty rip off of an errant corner kick (dang, what a shot!). (Doh! Turned my head and missed the third goal!) The fourth goal just before the half saw the Sporting defense get out of shape deep in the box, got beat by a forward sneaking into open space (think of a TE finding the hole in the cover-2 zone). By halftime it was pretty obvious that Sporting just does not have the offense to keep up. Man City's goals...I don't want to call them lucky, but they were pretty unique finishes--but, hey, that's why you sign the best talent.
Man City puts it in the net again early in the 2nd: a header off a cross to the far post sneaks past the Keeper, though it looked like there was no room (Keeper is ready for this game to be over); goal is waived off for off-side (the right call; Keeper still feels like shit, though). About ten mins later, though, Raheem Sterling gets free for a second about 25 yards out, curls one around two defenders right into the fat part of the far post where the Keeper can't reach (holy balls, a thing o' beauty). Not a good night for Sporting, seems inconceivable they're gonna do anything in the 2nd leg. This one is officially over.
Salzburg 1-1 Bayern Munich
I was rooting for Salzburg and I gotta say they came real close to a full 90 minutes of outplaying Bayern and that was as good as any performance of the first legs. Alas, the W eluded them when Coman snuck the weakside rebound in extra time to steal the draw. Oh man, heartbreaking game for Salzberg. After a few years of semi-regular Bundesliga viewing, Bayern is a bit like Golden State, Alabama and the Patriots all rolled into one: pure dominance but all the good/bad traits are removed so they seem like Terminator robots more than a football squad. They're not very aggressive, either, they are a classic 'take what the defense gives you' kinda offense. But they are opportunistic and they live to punish mistakes. And, man, Salzburg was like 100 seconds away from a perfect game (this is like losing a no-hitter with two outs in the 9th).
So is Salzberg they heartened by the near dominance of the great Bayern or are they devastated that all they got was a draw (which they happily would've taken if offered before kick off)? Will this inspire them or have they peaked? I'm curious to find out.
Inter Milan 0-2 Liverpool
I thought Inter was generally the better team, though it was good back and forth action...until the 70th minute when Liverpool connected on a nifty header on a corner kick. Inter had been attacking well but the wind went out of them after that and when Liverpool was able to tack on a second goal (confusion in front of the goal, a soft shot took the right bounce and found an empty net) just a few minutes later, the show was over.
Both teams attacked well, both teams parried the attacks away well. Header off a corner and slow roller that catches the keeper leaning the wrong way aren't exactly shock and awe. I wouldn't be too surprised to see Inter win 2-0 back in Liverpool and we see some PK's. Liverpool got a great W on the road but Inter was the better squad, so I don't think this one's over.
Villareal 1-1 Juventus
What an opening! Less than a minute in, Villareal loses possession just across midfield (on a nifty dummy, that no one else was paying attention to), Juve defender boots the ball long, finding Vlahovic, who chest traps the ball between two defenders, then spins and rips it toward the far post. Holy balls, that came outta nowhere! Felt like for a while after that, Juve fell into the trap of just bombing the ball long looking for Vlahovic, but in the 2nd half I thought Juve's offense controlled the ball nicely.
But that was the problem for both teams: better possession did not lead to better shots. I thought Villareal attacked more convincingly than Juve in the 1st half, but Juve's counter was effective and more dangerous. That flipped in the 2nd half, when Juve held more confident possession but Villareal was the one who found the net (amazingly wide open right in front of the ball--probably the only real mistake Juve made all day). Lesson here: the counter scores the goal, the offense just kicks the ball around. Pretty even match, look forward to the return.
Chelsea 2-0 Lille
Chelsea was just better from beginning to end. Lille had no attack and little to make me think the 2nd leg is going to produce much of a game.
Benfica 2-2 Ajax
Fun game! Lots of back and forth action, both teams had moments of dominance and weakness, the momentum was constantly shifting, lots of action in front of the goals, good stuff. Ajax scored early, then gave it back on an own-goal (a hockey goal: when in doubt, just fling it at the net, see if something happens), then the dude that gave up the own goal re-took the lead (keeper made a good save, forward was able to react just right to finish it), then Benfica went back on the offensive in the last 20 minutes and were able to score the equalizer late (another nice save, quick thinking rebound). The 2nd leg of this should be pretty great because these teams seem built to probe each other's weaknesses.
Atletico Madrid 1-1 Manchester United
Man, Atletico more or less dominated the entire match but right when it seemed like Man U was never gonna score, they found the net and stole back the draw. Atletico scored right away (good cross but the striker really had to stretch to get the finish) and firmly controlled the 1st half and really most of the 2nd half. Not sure how they managed to not score another goal, they so completely dominated that they forgot to pile on the insurance goal. It burned them: sneaky good pass after a turnover at midfield, then a lucky pass (as the last defender stabbed and missed), and a really nifty touch to put the ball behind the keeper, and we got a draw instead of an easy Atletico W.
Atletico will come out hard in the 2nd leg, should be a good one.
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