Domestic action returns to the fore with the FA Cup, Copa del Rey and Coupe de France dominating the midweek action, but the Champions League is set to return with the Round of 16 second legs on March 7/8-14/15.
We've got some dynamite return legs brewing with five of the eight matches separated by one goal or less, and who knows, maybe Liverpool can finally deliver some excitement now that nothing's expected from them.
ALMERIA, Spain - Barcelona wasted a golden opportunity to extend their lead at the top of LaLiga as they were shocked 1-0 at lowly Almería on Sunday thanks to a first-half strike by El Bilal Touré.
Barça are top of the league standings on 59 points, seven ahead second-placed Real Madrid who were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Atlético Madrid on Saturday. Almería are 15th on 25 points, two clear of the relegation zone.
MADRID — Ten-man Atletico Madrid dealt a blow to Real Madrid's LaLiga title hopes when they held the defending champions to a 1-1 draw at their Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Saturday.
After substitute Angel Correa had got a straight red card in the 64th minute for an elbow to the chest of defender Antonio Ruediger, Jose Maria Gimenez gave Atletico the lead when he netted a header from an Antoine Griezmann free kick in the 78th minute.
MANCHESTER, England - It was Groundhog Day for Barcelona at Old Trafford on Thursday as Manchester United fought back to earn a 2-1 win that knocked the Spanish side out of the Europa League, leaving the Catalans licking their wounds after another continental failure.
Last season they also ended up in the Europa League playoffs after finishing third in their Champions League group and were knocked out of Europe's second tier competition in the quarterfinals after a 3-2 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt at Camp Nou.
Heading into Thursday's Europa League playoff between Sevilla and PSV at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, the Spanish side simply needed to protect the 3-0 advantage they'd earned at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán last week while the Dutch club needed its own remontada.
PSV supporters willed their side forward, but the opening 45 minutes passed without much goalmouth incident. Sevilla's strategy was clear as early as the 33rd-minute when Marcos Acuña was booked for time-wasting over a throw-in.
Netflix has been killing it already this year with a collection of celebrated sports shows that take you behind-the-scenes to a degree that few other projects have ever been able to. Much of that stems from the success of Formula 1: Drive to Survive, which has given birth to an entire generation of American F1 fans as the docuseries releases its fifth season.
Jamie Carragher should probably be fired as an analyst after questioning Real Madrid's manifest destiny in the Champions League.
The 14-time winners appeared to live a charmed existence during last year's run to the title — coming back from 2-0 down in the final 30 minutes against PSG, coming back from 4-3 down in the final 10 minutes against Chelsea and coming back from 5-3 down in the final mere minutes against Manchester City before Thibaut Courtois' heroics in the final — but those are probably best analyzed as simply "Real Madrid things."
Valencia's season plummeted to historically low depths on Monday after a 1-0 defeat at Getafe left Los Che on just 20 points from 22 matches, good for 19th-place in LaLiga and two points from safety.
LIVERPOOL, England - Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp conceded that he had not been able to bring himself to rewatch last season's Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid until this past weekend, insisting reliving the experience was "torture."
The Reds won their first three matches against Real in European competition, between 1981 and 2009. Since then, however, they are winless in six games against them, with five of those ending in defeat.
Barcelona signed Mexican defender Julian Araujo from MLS side LA Galaxy in a deal until 2026, both clubs said on Friday.
Barcelona missed out on signing Araujo on transfer deadline day as they were 18 seconds late in registering the paperwork, and said they would appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to get the player registered.
Araujo has signed a three and a half year contract until the end of the 2025-26 season, Barcelona said, adding that the 21-year-old will join the club's B team.