Leipzig 0-1 Real Madrid
Leipzig got gypped (right?) on an early offside call that negated a goal in the first few minutes of the game; the guy who scored was NOT offside, I suppose the call was interference from the other forward (meh, 50-50 at best) but otherwise I never understood why the goal didn't stand. Too bad, because for the most part Leipzig hung with Real, felt like they held possession and attacked fairly well. They were inches away on connecting a million times in this game. But Real finished its best chance early in the 2nd half and they made it stand up. Kept waiting for Vini to get loose up front, but he felt kinda invisible. Close enough that the 2nd leg is up in the air, but I gotta go with Real at home to finish it off.
Copenhagen 1-3 Manchester City
Copenhagen is the very definition of "plucky". They looked like a pack of overachievers for the most part, any time someone would make a nice run with the ball and you're getting excited about the possibilities, he would invariably make the worst pass imaginable and suddenly the action is going the other way. I will say they do create a lot of chaos in front of the goal and their one score was pretty awesome--and repeatable, I'd say. But Man City had more talent, more control, and they did better with their opportunities. That third goal was a killer, you'd like to think Copenhagen might have a shot going on the road down 1 goal but down 2 seems like too much of a climb. Copenhagen's best chance is to play crazy and see what happens.
Paris SG 2-0 Real Sociedad
It took PSG until the 2nd half to find the net (sneaky rebound by Mbappe on a corner kick--how does Mbappe get so wide open in front of the net?) but once they did, the game was over. I really liked the left-winger Take for Sociedad, that guy had spicy moves and was the only one creating any kind of pressure on PSG's back line. Not a laugher exactly, it took PSG a while to find the flow of the offense, but it was only a matter of time before they did. Sociedad gets to go back home but I'd be pretty surprised if they outscored PSG.
Lazio 1-0 Bayern Munich
Bayern seemed kinda out of it in this game, no coherence, no worthwhile attack, but in the moments when they did pull it together, they still seemed more dangerous than Lazio. (I caught Leverkusen laying a 3-0 beatdown on Bayern last weekend--yipes! Don't see Bayern get dropkicked like that very often; so is Bayern struggling or have that got the yips out of their system? (Or is Leverkusen just crazy good for no fuckin' reason this year?)) Lazio controlled the ball well but I never felt much for their push forward. They got a PK (good call, didn't look like much live but on the replay it was clearly a penalty (though maybe the red card was a little harsh)), and they made it stand up. Again, Bayern was mostly listless but their brief moments were still better than Lazio's best game. Gotta think Bayern will go back home and get the W.
PSV Eindhoven 1-1 Borussia Dortmund
In the 1st half, PSV had 3-4 clear chances at the goal and managed to make nothing of them, while Dortmund barely cracked the Eindhoven box and somehow drilled a postage stamp size hole in the defense for the halftime lead. Dortmund felt like the better team but Eindhoven was giving the better performance only to come up short at halftime. But they were gifted a PK (I dunno, man, looked like he got ball, I didn't even think it about live and was pretty unconvinced by the replay) and were able to pull out the draw. It is probably the right result but still feels kinda grimy. I can't help thinking Dortmund is the better team, I expect them to push through back at home.
Inter Milan 1-0 Atletico Madrid
A rather ho-hum match, actually. Both sides were pretty even, Inter was able to shake loose on a breakaway and get the finish. Otherwise, the two sides were similar and while the game wasn't boring, no one ever really felt dangerous around the goal, nor did either team really seem superior to the other. This one is a toss up going back to Madrid.
Napoli 1-1 Barcelona
Considering both of these squads are notoriously bad on defense this season, I found it ironic that neither team was able to develop much offense. Bacelona got stuck going up the Gundigan channel, which just never worked at pushing the ball into the box. I was sitting there thinking, 'when are they gonna get the ball to Lewandoski?' And, sure enough, once they finally got him the ball in the box, he delivered. And on the other side, even though Osimhen annoyed me through most of the match (always complaining, always off-side), when he was able to finally corral a pass in front of the goal, he was able to finish. After the Lewandowski goal, felt like Napoli stepped up their attack. If they can keep that going in the next leg, I can see them moving on. This is probably the clearest tossup of the 8 matchups.
FC Porto 1-0 Arsenal
These may be the two lamest offense in the Round of 16. Porto seems to only backward--it's like their offense doesn't start until the goalie touches the ball. And Arsenal just never makes the adjustments necessary to move forward, they just keep flinging it around their backfield like they're stuck in a whirlpool. It's gonna take a major accident or act of God (or ref) for either team to score. But then, in the final minutes, Porto struck gold with a lovely easy-as-you-please chip shot from 25 yards out that snuck inside the far post. Beautiful! Okay, I guess Arsenal has a puncher's chance to match that back at home, but I think a scoreless draw is more likely, so I gotta stick with Porto.
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