2025 Champions League (semifinals)

Arsenal 0-1 Paris St-Germain

Paris St-Germain 2-1 Arsenal

Arsenal was on fire earlier in this tournament, but PSG cooled them off right quick. In two games, Arsenal's attack was non-existent, only a single late goal on their tally sheet. PSG was the better team on both sides, controlled the ball, controlled the tempo and rather easily won both of these matches. Good games but PSG was the clear better team in both matches. 

Barcelona 3-3 Inter Milan

Inter Milan 4-3 (ET) Barcelona

Whoa! I spent a week telling my soccer-phobic friends that if they were only going to watch one soccer match this year, it should be that first match between Barca and Inter. Now I've got to implore them to watch TWO games this year because that second match was even better! Inter opened the scoring in the 1st leg with a masterful opening rush that started with them getting pushed back to their own goal line, then punting to midfield, connecting on a quick pass, a swift push up the wing, which led to one of the loveliest (cheeky!) backheel goals I've ever seen. So, the first minute of the game pretty much got you ready for a barn burner. The next 219 minutes were pretty good, too! Coming in I thought Barca was the best team in the tournament, but Inter has really impressed me. Inter's attack is strong, their defense is holding up and they ran past the best team, so they are a deserving finalist. 

Final

PSG - Inter Milan

Gonna be a good one. PSG has the star power but Inter just keeps getting it done against top flight competition, so I'm going with Inter.

2021 Champions League (Round of 16) (2nd leg)

Juventus 3-2 (4-4) Porto 

That 1st half PK....meh. I see the contact but to me it just looks like two guys going after the ball with neither really getting an unfair advantage, so I would've let it go. Juve just couldn't get their offense going, Porto was off-side trapping them to perfection and kept them frustrated on the wings especially and when Ronaldo gets impatient, he gets fidgety. Juve back in the game: 48th minute, Ronaldo settles a ball in the box perfectly for Chiesa to hammer home, nice teamwork and a real mood lifter. Just a few minutes later Chiesa beat the keeper but couldn't corral the ball--OMG, that defender got so lucky to sweep it away without giving up a penalty!  Okay, some sweet action here. Chiesa finishes on a beautiful header from a long ball pass (hmmm...are we sure he wasn't offside?) and we got ourselves a stew! Once it went it OT, I figured we were headed to PK's, but Porto scored and I missed that Porto was in the driver's seat, so when Juve scored right away, I thought we were back on the PK track. But, no, Porto advances on away goals. Juve really dominated this match but Porto made their two best chances stand up and they're moving on. Tough L for Juventus. 

Dortmund 2-2 (5-4) Sevilla

Man, Sevilla really came out swinging, attacking hard early on. But they weren't able to connect on a quick goal, feels like they're gonna wear themselves out. Called it! For the first 20 minutes or so, Dortmund couldn't get the ball across midfield, but the first good run at the goal they had, they managed to finished (who's stopping Haaland right now?). The goal/no goal/missed PK/2nd chance PK maneuver early in the 2nd half was confusing and I'm not convinced it was the right call, but it felt like Dortmund earned a goal, so I guess it's legit. Sevilla played their asses off down the stretch, the frantic run to the end made Dotrmund look shaky, but they held on. Kind of a crazy game, lot of cards, chippy fouls, high octane action, replays, ref looked lost at times....fun times. 

Liverpool 2-0 (4-0) Leipzig

Another fairly even match where Liverpool finished its chances and Leipzig just couldn't generate any offense. Leipzig is solid but just doesn't have the attack to move forward. Kinda hard to tell, really, how good Liverpool is: was Leipzig a sturdy pushback or an easy pushover? My eyes told me the two teams were not that far apart but the scoreboard shows me a different picture. 

Paris St. Germaine 1-1 (5-2) Barcelona

Man, Barca had chances: missed PK, hit the post a coupla times, swung the ball in front of the goal numerous times, kinda lived in PSG's box for long stretches...and just couldn't connect. PSG got a quick PK (meh, I thought it was a weak call) and the lead seemed insurmountable....and it was. Shame to miss out on Messi going forward but it would've sucked being deprived of Mbappe, too, I suppose. 

Real Madrid 3-1 (4-1) Atalanta

Madrid controlled the game early, up 1-0 at halftime, and the game was pretty much over when they finished a PK (iffy call) early in the 2nd half. Atalanta got a goal, but gave it right back. Real was the better team for 180 minutes. 

Manchester City 2-0 (4-0) Gladbach

Gladbach just never had any attack at any point in these two matches. Even their high pressured defense was of little use, seemed like Man City was more than happy to kill time passing the ball around in their backfield. De Bruyne nailed a beauty early in the game and then they added another goal before halftime on a breakaway (beautiful set-up pass, just gorgeous) and it was all over quick.  

Bayern Munich 2-1 (6-2) Lazio

Yeah, Bayern is just better than Lazio. Lazio could maintain possession but they couldn't push forward and Bayern's counter were just overwhelming. 

Chelsea 2-0 (3-0) Atletico Madrid

I was surprised how un-sexy Atletico's attack was, just never seemed scary around the goal. Chelsea controlled the offense, that first goal finished the game, the late goal was just cold blooded.

Quarters:

Man City v Dortmund

I'm looking forward to it. Dortmund's offense can pile up goals quickly but it goes cold, too. If Man City can control the tempo, they can stymie Dortmund. This could go either way: indeed, this could be a tight, well-fought battle throughout or either team could house the other. This match offers perhaps the widest variance of outcomes.

Porto v Chelsea

I think Chelsea is the better team, not that Porto is undeserving but the way they scored in that first leg gives little indication of what they're actually like. If Porto can score early perhaps they can control the game, I think they'll have to. I gotta go with Chelsea, there's more firepower coming off the bench, too, they should score goals, whereas I think Porto has to bunker. 

Bayern Munich v Paris St. Germaine

This will be fun! Bayern isn't unbeatable, they're just really solid at every phase of the game. PSG, though, is exactly the kind of spicy side that put a scare into them. I see both teams scoring goals, this is definitely the matchup to watch.

Real Madrid v Liverpool

Hard to tell how good either of these teams are: Atalanta gave Real Madrid little to worry about and Leipzig just never spooked Liverpool. I got a feeling one of these sides is ready to collapse, just not sure who's going to do it first. Uh...I'll take Liverpool.

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. 

2018-19 Champions League (Round of 16)

1st Leg

Manchester United 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain
1st half felt like Man U had most of the momentum, attacked hard early on, but didn't overwhelm PSG; lot of yellow cards: ref might've been a little harsh, thought it was mostly just high intensity play, nothing too malicious (though Ashley Young was lucky not to get booted on a dangerous push in the back on Di Maria). 2nd half was more of the same but a perfect touch off a corner kick by Kimpembe in the 53rd minute gave PSG an all-important road goal, then they wisely kept up the attack just missing on another corner a few minutes later. Man U needs to take back the momentum now or they're gonna get run out of the stadium. And there it is: 60th minute Mbappe finishes on the breakaway and it feels like Manchester is cooked. Outside of Pogba (even he kinda disappeared in the 2nd half) and DeGea (some really marvelous saves, though the score sheet doesn't look to be in his favor), I just don't see much in this Manchester United side; the defense is okay but attack is badly lacking, a far cry from the 1990s teams that used to rumble over people Crimson Tide-like. Considering how little attack they had, seems really weird they waited til the 85th minute to bring Lukaku off the bench (he's a guy that requires a lot of service, you really have to build your attack around him rather than just plugging him in, but in a game like this I would've gone with him from the start). Ashley Young could've been red card-ed for his hit on DiMaria, instead he gets a second yellow for...well, I never figured out what it was for but looks like he'll be out of the return match. Pogba's hit was worth a second yellow, I guess, but man Man U's gonna be pretty thin when they head to Paris.

Roma 2-1 Porto
The 1st half of this game was all Roma, they seemed more likely to score and less likely to get scored on, felt like this would be a rout. But Porto held them for 70 minutes, starting to feel like Porto would escape with a scoreless draw. But Roma finally connected, then connected again soon after and all the momentum was back and it felt like they were gonna go into the second leg with a 2-0 thumping under the belt. But Porto snuck a late goal that could be kinda huge, a road goal feels like something of a reward for that first 70 minutes of withstanding the attack. We'll see it goes back in Portugal, but here Roma was clearly the better team.

Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Borussia Dortmund
The 1st half struck me as mild and fairly even, with Dortmund looking like probably the more complete and dangerous team. Yeah, that ended at halftime. Tottenham scored right away (lovely finish off a lovely cross after the defense pushed forward but forgot to bring the ball with them), added another not long after (another lovely finish off another lovely cross, albeit this time in traffic with actual defense), and then piled on with a seeing-eye header off a corner kick. Dortmund is capable of piling up goals at home but they don't seem capable of scoring and playing defense at the same time, meaning that Tottenham is very much in the driver's seat for the second leg.

Ajax 1-2 Real Madrid
In the 1st half I was impressed with Ajax's attack, they controlled the ball, pushed forward with abandon and really kept Real out of the action. They had a goal (nice rebound finish off a blocked corner kick) taken away by replay: I dunno, man, could've gone either way, I mean there is contact with the keeper but the keeper wasn't gonna make that save, the contact was incidental. Scoreless draw at the half. Real asserted themselves better in the 2nd half culminating in a 60th minute goal: Vinicius did some beautiful work up the sideline, beating his defender, dragging the ball through the box sculpting the defense to his liking, then laying it off to Benzema for the finish, keeper couldn't do anything. After that it felt like Real had crushed the home crowd, Ajax's superior offense went from ambitious to desperate. But in the 75th minute Ajax capitalized on a bad giveaway in the Real backfield (sneaky good finish: set up on the right foot, instead he shoots with the left back to the near post, using the keeper's momentum against him). From then on Ajax returned to their good attack, taking advantage of the fact that Real had prematurely subbed Bale and Benzema and Vinicius,really felt like they might score again. Instead it was Real that snuck the game winner on a breakaway (perfect cross, perfect finish) in the 85th. Heart breaker for Ajax, they really dominated most of this game but they couldn't get it done. Considering how lackluster their offense was this is a great result for Real, two road goals and a W sets them up very well for the 2nd leg.

Lyon 0-0 Barcelona
Gotta say: one of the more action-packed (sorta) scoreless draws I've ever seen. Thought both teams had plenty of chances of to score (especially Barca) but nobody bothered to take a good shot in the whole game. Plenty of good offense unhampered by intrusive defense but shooters somehow managed to never get a good final touch. All in all, Lyon did well to escape without any damage, though it was clear they were the second best team in this game. Telling moment: not even three minutes in, Messi got free just outside the box and the defender pulled him down without hesitation, you knew right then it was gonna be a long day for Lyon.

Liverpool 0-0 Bayern Munich
Liverpool felt like the better side throughout, really dominated the offense in the 2nd half. But they never did score leaving Bayern (who looks strangely soft this year, like the whole team has a cold) in a pretty good spot going into the next leg.

Schalke 04 2-3 Manchester City
Boy, Schalke had a brutally bad brain fart on that first MC goal: a challenge at midfield left a Schalke player down but rather than play the ball out, it drifetd all the way back to the gaolie, who made a lazy pass that got picked and converted; sucks, but the goal was legit. Schalke was able to get two PK's before halftime (the first one was a tough call, I mean clear handball but no intent and I thought minimal effect, letter of the law but not the spirit kinda call; the second one, I dunno, it just looked a pack of dudes bashing into each other, not sure how you can foul on that, but oh well), looked to be sitting pretty. But Man City was just all-around the better team, tied it up on a brilliant free kick, took the lead soon after on a perfect reaction to searching long ball, keeper was cooked. Man, you take away two penalty kicks and Schalke flat out got slaughtered in this game. Not only did the lose but they gave up 3 away goals, which is going to require a massive effort to move on. Those Bundesliga teams are not looking good: in the case of Dortmund I wasn't sure if Tottenham was the stronger side or just had a better day, Bayern was not the stronger side and did well to escape with a scoreless draw, and Schalke was not the stronger side and did not have the better day, so they're pretty much cooked.

Atletico Madrid 2-0 Juventus
Home side Atletico added two late goals to make it look like a runaway and they deserved it, they were clearly the better side. That said, it took them a long time to finally get on the board (had one taken away by replay, good call, I didn't notice that foul before the shot either), felt like Juve might steal one or at least get a reasonable result. Atletico attacked better, generally defended better and throwing a coupla late ones into the net felt like the proper result.


2nd leg predictions
PSG (*) 2-1 Man U
Porto 0-1 Roma (*)
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Tottenham (*)
Real Madrid (*) 3-1 Ajax
Barcelona (*) 3-0 Lyon
Bayern Munich (*) 1-0 Liverpool
Man City (*) 2-1 Schalke
Juventus 2-1 Atletico Madrid (*)