2025 Champions League (Round of 16) (1st leg)

Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa

Brugge came into this tourney looking like the #16 seed and when Villa scored in the first few minutes, felt like it was gonna be a long day for Brugge. But they got the equalizer pretty soon after and hung tough until a really unfortunate own goal doomed them. A late PK just finished it and Villa looks set to move on.  

Dortmund 1-1 Lille

Dortmund took the lead before halftime, felt like they were going to close it out. But, no. Lille got the equalizer fairly late, setting themselves up for a grudge match in the 2nd leg.

PSV 1-7 Arsenal

(Didn't watch this one, scoreline would suggest Arsenal is gonna move on)

Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico Madrid

Man, close match, even match, but Real snaked a late goal to steal the victoy. Not over yet, Atletico will be a tough out in the return match. 

Feyenord 0-2 Inter Milan

Feyenord played hard but Inter was the better team and should be ready to close out in the 2nd leg. 

Bayern Munich 3-0 Bayer Leverkusen

Munich scored early, added a PK and Leverkusen was just out of this match right away. Great victory for Munich, they're clearly in the driver's seat heading back to Leverkusen (who finally put the stomp on Munich last season), who have a seriously uphill climb ahead of them. 

PSG 0-1 Liverpool

(Didn't watch this one--though I'm eager to catch the 2nd leg. Still anyone's ball game)

Benfica 0-1 Barcelona

Bad beat for Benfica. They got an early red card on Barca (just missed out on a PK) and generally played better from beginning to end. But one bad giveaway in the backfield (yipes! What a shitty pass!), and a brilliant strike and the game got away from them completely. Benfica played hard, feels like they'll be bringing it in the 2nd leg, but, man, one mistake was all it took to get them beat in this match.

2024 Champions League Round of 16 (2nd Leg)

Bayern Munich 3-0 (agg 3-1) Lazio

Not saying Bayern has completely righted the ship (although dropping 7 goals back in the Bundesliga in their very next match might be a better indicator), but they were clearly in control of this match throughout. Bayern attacked at will, Lazio just never could get the ball forward and never seemed dangerous at all. Is Bayern ready to go on a run? Well, this is the best they've looked all season so....maybe. 

Real Sociedad 1-2 (agg 1-4) Paris St. Germaine

(Didn't watch it; accidentally caught the score at a bar, wasn't shocked) PSG controlled both games, scored a ton, and while Sociedad didn't challenge them much on the defensive end, the offense still showed up and balled out, feels like the star power at PSG is ready to get it done. 

Real Madrid 1-1 (agg 2-1) Leipzig

Good form for Real. Not exactly a dominating victory but they were the better team pretty much the whole time. Leipzig was able to quickly counter Real's goal early in the 2nd half but couldn't muster much else after that. Real handled a lesser opponent but they kinda got lucky (phantom off-side that wiped away a Leipzig opening goal in Game One) and never really shined out (though they never really had to). Hard to tell how good Real actually is. 

Manchester City 3-1 (agg 6-2) Copenhagen

Copenhagen's two goals were both sweet, they are definitely the funnest so-so team I've seen in a long time. But they couldn't come close to Man City's firepower. Man City is looking pretty good, but let's be honest: they had pretty soft competition in this round. They scored, they moved the ball and they even overcame the weird offensive onslaught of Copenhagen, I'm not sure I think Man City is the best team so far, but they're up there.

Barcelona 3-1 (agg 4-2) Napoli

This felt like the breakout of Lamine Yamal, real control of the right wing in a way I'd never noticed him exert before. The back and forth was okay but a serious defensive breakdown of the Napoli back line gifted Barca the opening goal--which was almost immediately followed by another defensive lapse that led to the next goal! Man, what's going on in the Napoli backfield? Napoli was able to get on the board before halftime, salvaging the chance to still take this game. Lewandowski hasn't even done anything yet, gotta feel like he's still got a coupla big plays in him in the second half.  Oh, by the way, Osimhen is still nothing but off-side. In the 2nd half, Napoli's attack was much stronger but they never could crack the backline. Meanwhile, Barcelona finished it off with a beautiful tic-tac run though the Napoli backline. Good W for Barcelona, stating to look for-real dangerous going forward.

Arsenal 1-0 (agg 2-1 (PKs)) Porto

Kind of a boring match, really, neither team established much offense and yet somehow the defense wasn't inspiring either. Arsenal got it done in penalty kicks and they're moving on but they strike me as probably the most offensively challenged of the quarterfinalists.

Dortmund 2-0 (agg 3-1) PSV Eindhoven

Dortmund struck early (er, well, Eindhoven's defense started slow) on a sweet lo strike by Malen and that pretty much finished the game. Dortmund's attack was pretty great for the rest of the 1st half and though PSV picked up its attack in the 2nd half, they couldn't get a really good look at the goal. Reus was able to finish it in extra time with a fluky goal (last defender just lost his footing leaving the goalie 1-on-1 with the greatest goal scorer in Dortmund's history) and Dortmund is moving on. I thought they were the better team in both games but they didn't exactly blow me away. We'll see about them in the quarterfinals. 

Atletico Madrid 2-1 (agg 3-2 (PKs)) Inter Milan

As opposed to Porto-Arsenal, which felt like two evenly matched mediocre squads, these two felt evenly matched superior teams dueling each other to a thrilling standstill. This was a fun match, felt like throughout Atletico was the better side but Inter had stretches of controlling the attack and looking kinda dangerous. Atletico worked long balls into the box early on but in the 2nd half settled into more orderly possession-heavy incursions that found a lot more good lucks than Inter had. The extra time was fun, the shootout was fun (largely because the home crowd got satisfaction), fun match all the way though. Hate to lose Inter, though they were pretty good.

I'd rank #1-8:

Manchester City, Paris-St.Germaine, Real Madrid, Bayern Munchen (the wild card), Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Dortmund, Arsenal

#9-16:

Inter Milan, Lazio, Leipzig, Napoli, PSV Eindhoven, Real Sociedad, Porto, Copenhagen

2024 Champions League (Round of 16) (1st Leg)

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.  

2023 Champions League (Round of 16) (2nd Leg)

Benfica 5-1 Brugge (agg 7-1)

Didn't watch this one, looks like I didn't miss anything. Of the 16 teams here, Brugge was easily the least of them--so much so that it's hard to tell how good Benfica actually is. They look capable of pushing forward and attacking but we'll see in the quarterfinals. Obviously a great season for Brugge. 

Chelsea 2-0 Dortmund (agg 2-1)

Chelsea was the better team throughout and 2-1 aggregate was probably about right....but....man, that PK was wonky, bro. I don't think I've ever seen an encroachment call so I'm not exactly sure what the rule says but look at this pic:

Chelsea is the one encroaching, right? Yes, one of the Dortmund defenders is in the box but clearly he is reacting to the Chelsea attacker--so how is that an infraction on Dortmund? I dunno, man, felt like the ref was determined to make sure Chelsea finished this PK. Oh well, Chelsea was the better side throughout and 2-1 over the course of 180 minutes is probably right, but...if I were Dortmund I'd be pretty pissed.

Bayern Munich 2-0 Paris St. Germain (agg 3-0)

I never fail to be shocked by how casually PSG takes the Champions League, they just didn't show up again though their stacked roster seemed prime to best Bayern. PSG had their moments but Bayern was consistently the better attacking side, much more dangerous around the goal and they got the finishing touches they needed. Is PSG one of those teams that just can't win? Is Bayern really this dominant? I dunno. I'm certain that Bayern doesn't suck but I'm not yet sure they are the team to beat.

Tottenham 0-0 AC Milan (agg 0-1)

A bit of a snooze of a match.  No one really controlled much of anything and yet the back-and-forth action was never particularly compelling. Milan scored early in the 1st leg and from then on both sides kept each other from doing much. Just a perfect matchup or is AC Milan lucky to be in the quarters?

Manchester City 7-0 Leipzig (agg 8-1)

Well, this one was over quick. Probably over after the first goal--definitely over after the second goal--Leipzig just never got going and by halftime looked really uninterested in playing soccer any more. Like, I felt bad for Leipzig--clearly God did not want them to win this game! Man City was obviously the better team but a result like this is more than just better-ness. Again, such a walkover that its hard to tell how good Man City actually is. 

Porto 0-0 Inter Milan (agg 0-1)

Didn't see this one, seems like I didn't miss much. I enjoyed the 1st leg but I wasn't able to catch the return match. 

Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool (agg 6-2)

Over before it began, bit of a lackluster match, actually. Real had moments in the 2nd half where they were having fun out there but Liverpool just looked like they were running in mud the whole time. Wow, the first ten minutes of the 1st leg was so different from the 170 minutes that followed! Real looks like the best team (unless you think Bayern's mastery of PSG was for real).

Napoli 3-0 Eintracht Frankfurt (agg 5-0)

Napoli was better throughout, controlled the pace all through the first half, scored right before the half and that was probably it. I thought the two sides were fairly evenly matched but Frankfurt just could not get going in the return match and this was an easy one for Napoli. Just a fortuitous matchup or is Napoli really this dangerous? I'm ready to find out. 

The quarterfinal matches:

Real Madrid v Chelsea (Gotta go with Real though Chelsea is gonna be ready)

Benfica v Inter Milan (No idea...both sides had such weird R16 matchups that I have no idea which one is superior)

Manchester City v Bayern (Fun one, but I think Bayern will move on)

AC Milan v Napoli (Again: no idea! Two Italian teams (what NFL-ers would think of as a Division game), they probably have their own rivalry that I don't even understand, my gut is Milan is better but I dunno)

2023 Champions League (Round of 16) (1st leg)

Paris St. Germain 0-1 Bayern Munich

I was kinda surprised how easily Bayern pushed PSG around on their home field--and why on earth did Mbappe not start? For the first 20 mins or so, Bayern absolutely dominated possession, though PSG's counter attack seemed kinda dangerous. Bayern took the lead early in the 2nd half (easy-as-you-please finish by Coman off a long cross into the box), felt like PSG was gonna ramp up the intensity, they brought Mbappe off the bench (I do not understand European 'load management': dude, these are the games you want your stars to play--this is WHY you signed them to begin with!), and in the last 10 mins or so, PSG did dominate the possession but outside of one nice run that led to a goal called back for offside (dude, arguably the closest offside call I've ever seen!), they never really did much to control the attack. I didn't think Bayern was the better team--that PSG roster is stacked! But they played the smarter game plan and they brought the intensity that PSG didn't. 2nd leg will be fun, PSG still has a killer lineup and they'll need to bring it in Munich, but I gotta think Bayern won't squander this lead (they are not sqaunderers). 

AC Milan 1-0 Tottenham

Milan got the early goal (keeper just got bum rushed, nothing he could do) and made it stand up. Thought the rest of the match was fairly even, Tottenham may have even had slightly better chances. The 2nd leg of this game is wide open, Milan did well to get the goal advantage. 

Dortmund 1-0 Chelsea

Wow, I thought Chelsea was in every way the better side in this match, better offense, better defense, better chances, better possession, etc. If Dortmund had come out with a scoreless draw, they would've been lucky. So to come up with the one moment of brilliance and stealing the W is a phenomenomal result for Dortmund. And, oh yeah, it was brilliant: dude, absolutely everything he does on this run is perfect--perfect timing to separate from the defender, perfect spacing to elude the keeper, just a fuckin' perfect play. Dortmund did well to steal this first leg, but, man, Chelsea was better and I would expect them to get it done back home in the 2nd leg (perhaps in PKs).  

Bruges 0-2 Benfica

Benfica was the better side, the better attack. I wasn't a huge fan of that penalty call (yeah, yeah, there was contact but I thought it was more even than ya think) but it wasn't a terrible call. The second goal late was a brilliant steal and lovely finish (keeper was cooked, defense let him down) to pile it on. Bruges played hard but they were never dangerous around the goal and it was really only a matter of time before Benfica found the goal. I'd say this one is done, I'd be pretty amazed if Bruges came back in this one. 

Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid

Ha! The first coupla minutes of the game featured intense on-ball defense that suggested the speed of the game would overwhelm the players on the pitch; then, outta nowhere, Liverpool sneaks a pass behind Real's back line for a cheeky backheel that caught the keeper (and all viewers of the match!) completely off guard. A coupla minutes later GK Coutois made one of the worst goofy mistakes I've ever seen (well, until a little later in the match!) and suddenly Liverpool was up 2-0 at home before anybody had even warmed up. But, then that was about it for Liverpool. Real got on the board before halftime on a really lovely Vini rip from the top corner of the box and then soon after followed with the NEWEST goofy goalie mistake I've ever seen--dude, Vini wasn't even looking at the ball when he scored! And it was a draw at halftime when it felt like the game could've/should've been long over. Real scored early in the 2nd half on the maybe the most clinical pass to header plays I've ever seen. From there Benzema (MIA in the World Cup, nice to see him back on the pitch), took over, piling on and then piling on some more. Early on, I was thinking Real might be past their prime, felt like maybe the talent wasn't going to mesh and maybe it was time for a Utah Jazz-style blowup....but, uh....yeah, I don't think that any more. Benzema and Vini are back to looking like a killer 1-2 combo up front and suddenly they look like the team to beat. Can Liverpool go on the road and get a big W? Uh....I mean....I guess it's possible, but....no. 

Eintracht Frankfurt 0-2 Napoli

I wasn't blown away by Napoli but they were the better team throughout and even though they missed a PK (weird play but the right call, nice save), they didn't lose their cool. Then when Eintracht got a red card (yeah, brutal play but I think it was yellow), Napoli just dominated possession and were able to poke in a pile-on goal late to seal it. Gotta figure this one is over, Napoli looks to be the better side and heading back home with 2 goal lead is probably an insurmountable climb for Frankfurt. 

Inter Milan 1-0 FC Porto

Fun game! Back and forth, both teams had good possession, good opportunities, felt like Inter took the upper hand down the stretch but it still took quite some time before Lukaku was finally able to get on the end of one. Felt like it was gonna be a scoreless draw but Inter pulled it out at home. Wouldn't be shocked if Porto was able to take it back home, there's still some action left in this match.

Leipzig 1-1 Manchester City

Man City felt like the better side throughout. They got the early lead, felt like they were gonna make it hold up but Leipzig was able to connect on a corner (keeper in no man's land, huge pile of goal to shoot at) and that earned the draw. Man City is not unbeatable or anything, but I felt like they only got stung when they lost their focus. Leipzig has a puncher's chance, but I think Man City will finish this off back home. 

2021-22 Champions League (Round of 16)

They had to re-do the draw but here's the official matchups when Champions League returns in February. I'm ready to go now, but 6 more weeks of NFL action will be a nice way to kill time til the real soccer comes back. 

FC Salzburg v Bayern Munich

Sporting CP v Manchester City

Benfica v Ajax

Chelsea v Lille

Atletico Madrid v Manchester United

Villareal v Juventus

Inter Milan v Liverpool

Paris-St. Germain v Real Madrid

2021 Champions League (Round of 16)

1st leg

Leipzig 0-2 Liverpool

I thought Liverpool controlled the ball better, had a much more dangerous attack; Leipzig had a few moments, especially late, but they were never scary around the goal and shanked the best opportunities badly. Both of the goals were bad defensive giveaways (an errant pass that left Salah wide open and a whiff on a high arcing long ball that left Sane wide open) but otherwise Leipzig's D was pretty good.  This easily could've been a scoreless draw but Liverpool was the better team and a two goal W is probably the right outcome. Gotta figure Liverpool will make it stand up and move on to the quarterfinals.

Barcelona 1-4 Paris. St. Germaine

Wow. For 60 minutes I thought this was an even contest. But when Mbappe scored his second goal around the 65th minute, PSG just went off and destroyed Barca for the rest of the night. Barca scored first on a PK (looked like the right call, then it didn't, then it did again, it was the right call), but Mbappe got loose in the box and tied it up before halftime. Both sides attacked well and kept the action spicy pretty evenly until PSG took the lead. Soon after PSG got another goal on a header from a direct kick (kinda looked like when an extra linebacker rushes the passer and the running back never picks him up). Barca had some moments after that but PSG made better use of their possessions and put it on Barca. Mbappe's hat trick was off a beautiful pass during a breakaway, Barca's D got carved up. Barcelona's got a tough hill to climb but they're really good so that makes the next match all the more intriguing.

Porto 2-1 Juventus

Weirdest line I've seen in a while: Porto scored in the 1st minute of the game on one of the dumbest goals I've ever seen (lazy back pass, caught the keeper off guard, free goal for the other team), then scored in the 1st minute of the 2nd half (nice give-and-go up the right side that just sliced through the D). Otherwise, Juve was the better team but Porto never really had to be any good, so it's hard to tell what the next match will look like. Juve's goal was a thing of beauty: fast break up the left, swing the ball back across to find the open man on the other side, lovely slotted home finish; when you score goal like that on PlayStation, you know you're ready to move up a level. Can Juventus come back and take the 2nd leg? Absolutely, I think they will. 

Sevilla 2-3 Dortmund

Sevilla scored a quick goal but Dortmund dominated the rest of the half and was up 3-1 at the half. Sevilla played hard, got a goal late (not insignificant). High scoring which makes the 2nd leg aall the more exciting.

Ateletico Madrid 0-1 Chelsea

I thought Chelsea had the more dangerous attack but really this was an evenly matched contest. Nice goal, I thought it was offside until the showed the other angle (like 30 minutes later!...man, I hate replay, I'd rather just complain about the refs blowing a call than watching a replay 50 times and then still getting it wrong). Very even match, the 2nd leg will definitely be worth catching. 

Lazio 1-4 Bayern Munich

Uh....yeah...Bayern's just better than Lazio. Add in that Lazio just had a bad day and I think this result looks kinda right. And for good measure: I thought Lazio was offside on their goal and that the ref pitied them for most of the 2nd half. The next leg doesn't even seem necessary, but, hey, crazy things happen in soccer (I do not anticipate any crazy things happening here, though).  

Atalanta 0-1 Real Madrid

Atalanta suffered a red card early (good call, it was pure hip check and no ball), though I'm guessing Atalanta's strategy was to bunker in anyway. For the first few minutes Atalanta attacked well but then played defense throughout. I thought it was gonna work and it almost did: it wasn't til the 85th minute that Mende was able to connect on a long shot off a corner (nice rip!). Real handled the ball well and it really never felt like Atalanta was gonna score, but Real didn't exactly dominate the attack even though their opponent was a man down. But I anticipate that Real will move on from here because Atalanta didn't display any offensive firepower (and they'll missing one of their defensive starters, no?).

Monchengladbach 0-2 Manchester City 

Gladbach just didn't have any offense, didn't get anything going at all until the last few minutes--although how the ref failed to give them a PK in the final minutes was mystifying to me (clear foul, man, clear foul). Gladbach's best shot was a flailing back heel that almost snuck inside the post (I thought it went in at first) and then a rip off a bad defensive giveaway in the last few seconds of the match. Man City was fine, didn't feel like they played their best but Gladbach was nowhere near scoring, so a relatively easy W for them.

Predictions for the 2nd leg:

Liverpool (*) 1-1 Leipzig

Paris SG (*) 1-2 Barcelona

Juventus (*) 2-1 Porto (I'm seeing PK's in this one)

Dortmund (*) 2-2 Sevilla

Chelsea (*) 0-0 Atletico Madrid

Bayern Munich (*) 2-1 Lazio

Real Madrid (*) 2-0 Atalanta

Manchester City (*) 1-0 Gladbach

(Hmmmm....just dawned on me that the road team won 7 of the 8 games)

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 (*)