Champions League

Back in 2003, NHL goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. He was unreal, but the following offseason, with Giguere’s infamously large gear the inspiration, the NHL implemented pad restrictions and a $25K fine for teams found guilty of ignoring the rule. In essence, Giguere could no longer resemble the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. 

Watching David de Gea tend the net is like watching Giguere in the days of yore. He’s obviously cheating.

The Lionel Messi goal vs Chelsea gave Barcelona a vital away goal after the first leg in the Champions League Round of 16 as the teams played to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday at Stamford Bridge. It was his first goal in nine career matches against the Blues. But it was all about that assist from Andres Iniesta, three seconds that perfectly summed up the Spaniard’s brilliance. 

Although there’s no more difficult away trip in all of football than Besiktas’ Vodafone Park, Bayern Munich’s 5-0 first leg win over the Turkish giants has almost certainly given the Bavarian side a place in the Champions League quarterfinals, which would be the club's seventh consecutive appearance in the last eight.

For 16 minutes, a battle between first in Germany and fourth in Turkey figured to be an engaging affair, but then, Besiktas captain and Canadian legend Atiba Hutchinson played a dreadful back pass which was pounced on by Robert Lewandowski. 

For at least a decade or two, England and Spain have been home to the two best soccer leagues in the world. La Liga and Premier League clubs have consistently been the two most competitive in the Champions League since the rebranding of the tournament for the 1992-93 season. So what happens when we get an England vs Spain Champions League matchup? Historically, one league has won a lot more often: La Liga.

No surprise really, but the first leg of the Real Madrid-PSG Champions League Round of 16 matchup was a huge success for broadcasters as the two-time defending champions rallied for a 3-1 victory on Wednesday in Madrid. As the numbers from the Real Madrid-PSG TV ratings begin to trickle in, we’re beginning to learn just how big of a deal the match was for countries around the world, especially those without a team in the fight.

After Sadio Mane and his pals ended Porto's 24-match unbeaten streak at home in destructive fashion Wednesday, one would think the Porto fans would be, like, mad or something.

But they weren't. Or, at least, if they had any anger they pushed it down deep inside themselves to be let out later at (to pick a profession at random) a tow-truck driver. Instead, the Porto fans cheered their team following an embarrassing loss just as loudly as they would have following a big win.

Real Madrid vs PSG was electric. Two of the richest soccer clubs in the world faced each other in the most expected clash in the Champions League round of sixteen. And it was absolutely high voltage.

Of course, soccer fans around the planet were also itching for the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Neymar duel. 

Liverpool are red,

Porto are blue

The Reds won 5-0

And are (almost) certainly through

Sadio Mané gives Liverpool that all-important away goal!
https://t.co/PBVGc4p3t4

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 14, 2018

Roses are red

Away goals are cool

That was a bit of a shitshow

Porto's goalkeeper is not very good

In an individual matchup that was billed by many as the past of football versus the future, it was Cristiano Ronaldo — seven years the senior — who once again delivered while Neymar’s myriad of mazy dribbles led to naught. 

In the age of the meme, the superstars of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain delivered pretty on-brand performances. 

Ronaldo struggled mightily in the opening 44 minutes, putting a free kick from just outside the box over in the 26’ before wasting a wonderful opportunity only two minutes later.

What crisis in Madrid? All’s well for Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid after an impressive 3-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday. While there’s still a second leg to play in Paris, the Real Madrid vs PSG fixture is now the defending champions’ to lose.