The Champions League quarterfinal matchups are set. At this stage in the competition, there are no bad teams and no teams that are truly out of it (except maybe Sevilla, sorry guys).
The quarterfinal matches will be played April 3-4 and April 10-11.
Real Madrid vs. Juventus
AS Roma did just enough to overturn their deficit against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday, Edin Dzeko scoring the lone goal in the 52nd minute to put Roma through via the away goals rule, 2-2 on aggregate.
Shakhtar went about their business professionally in the opening 45, looking dangerous on the counter and assured in possession while Roma struggled to generate any chances of note.
If last week’s round of Serie A fixtures was dominated by tragedy, then this week’s matches were defined by flashes of beauty peering through the gloom. Across a number of games, there were flashes of brilliance which pierced through the fog for vastly different reasons. Even if, ultimately, the moments meant nothing, the surge of emotion and energy was undeniable.
Let’s begin with the most astounding of all.
This Francesco Totti goal will bring nostalgic tears to your eyes. Remember that majestic Italian player who retired only recently?
Francesco Totti was one of those players who gave the beautiful game all of its romantic allure.
Totti never played for another team different than Roma. He holds the record of most appearances for the club with a total of 786 in all competitions, 619 of them in Serie A.
Moreover, he was unquestionably one of the most talented players of his generation.
Danny Welbeck is part of the pantheon of great English forwards who do not score goals. That’d seem to be a terrible oxymoron, but you forget that supporters love a grafter. If you had to rely on one striker to effectively man-mark a center back out of a match, it’d be Danny Welbeck.
I don’t know why you’d ever employ that tactic, but that’s the highest praise I can bestow on Welbeck.
Tottenham had this. For 60 minutes of play, Tottenham deserved this ... but Juventus aren’t here for your sentimental nonsense.
Spurs landed five shots on target in the first half — nobody does that to Juventus. Son Heung-min looked razor sharp. Harry Kane was bossing Giorgio Chiellini. Paulo Dybala was about to get roasted on the spit of a thousand different hot takes. Only Andrea Barzagli was doing fun, wily veteran things.
Was this a red card for Barzagli?
RT for Red Card
We were all wrong. Let’s take a moment to come together, as a community, and admit that we all assumed the appointment of Gennaro Gattuso as AC Milan manager was absurd to the point of hilarity. Our sides were splitting. Our guffaws echoed along the corridors of the internet. We laughed and we laughed and we laughed.
But we were all wrong.
You see, it turns out that Gattuso might just be exactly what Milan needed.
Apparently, soccer comebacks are all the rage right now. Landon Donovan is back playing with León, Freddy Adu rediscovered his love for soccer with the Las Vegas Lights, Marco Reus is back scoring for Dortmund and now a Gianluigi Buffon Italy return appears imminent.
For the first time since the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Arsenal have been drawn against AC Milan in European competition. But, with the encounter now taking place in the Europa League and the added coinkydink of both sides sitting sixth domestically (both are also eight points back of fourth place), there’ll be a lot of glorious nostalgia mixed with contemporary handwringing before the San Siro first leg on March 8.