UEFA Champions League

Thursdays are the quirkiest of footballing days. With the Europa League in action, there’s simultaneously too much for any one person to follow and yet not enough to keep anyone but the most devoted of fans interested. It’s a perfect day for r/Soccer to ensure you’re up to date on all things football, and this Thursday was a doozy. It was a day made for r/Soccer.

Let’s start, as with all things r/Soccer, with something that overpromotes an American, and as usual, that American is Christian Pulisic. 

PARIS - Paris Saint-Germain looked shaky as they completed a 5-2 aggregate victory against Barcelona to reach the Champions League quarterfinals, but keeper Keylor Navas kept them afloat when their demons resurfaced.

On the stroke of halftime on Wednesday, Barça had a penalty that could have put them 2-1 up and two goals away from forcing extra time after a 4-1 defeat in the first leg at the Camp Nou. A repeat of the 2017 "remontada”, when Barça beat PSG 6-1 to overturn a 4-0 first leg defeat in the last 16, seemed more than just a pipe dream.

Jurgen Klopp will breathe a sigh of relief on Wednesday night. Liverpool finally put away an indifferent RB Leipzig with a 2-0 win at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, completing a 4-0 aggregate victory in the Champions League Round of 16. But this was far from a return to form for the defending Premier League champions, and it wasn’t the type of performance that will inspire a turning point in Liverpool’s season.

Despite controlling 73 percent possession and attempting 21 shots compared to just seven for PSG, Barcelona could only manage one goal at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday — which was canceled out by a controversial Kylian Mbappé penalty in a 1-1 draw — to crash out of the Champions League at the Round of 16 stage, 5-2 on aggregate. 

One day after the 10-year anniversary of Robin van Persie’s most ignominious moment as a footballer, Porto’s Mehdi Taremi was a victim of the exact same call. Once again, keeper Wojciech Szczesny witnessed the unthinkable in a game he started, and once again his team lost a game it looked certain to win. Only this time he could blame an American, not a shocking officiating decision.

Picture this: The 81,365 capacity Westfalenstadion is rocking after Erling Haaland has given Borussia Dortmund a 4-2 aggregate lead over Sevilla in their Champions League Round of 16 second leg. In the 54th minute, Haaland tears the roof off the place after bodying Fernando to the floor, recollecting possession and clipping a right-footed effort over Bono from an obtuse angle.

It’s an awe-inspiring goal, combining strength, technique and a borderline unhealthy obsession with sticking the ball in the back of the net.

MANCHESTER, England - Agreement on a new-look Champions League structure is close to being completed and should be sealed in the next two weeks, Andrea Agnelli, president of Juventus and chairman of the European Club Association (ECA), said on Monday.

Agnelli told reporters after an ECA General Assembly that clubs could sign "individual commitments" to UEFA's competitions to finally end speculation about a breakaway Super League. He also floated the idea of barring big money transfer deals between clubs competing in the Champions League to cut costs.

DORTMUND, Germany - Borussia Dortmund's Giovanni Reyna and Raphaël Guerreiro are doubtful for their Champions League Round of 16 second leg at home to Sevilla on Tuesday but leading striker Erling Haaland will be fit, coach Edin Terzić said on Monday.