Champions League

Déjà vu approached the viewer of CSKA Moscow vs. Real Madrid on Tuesday and punched him or her in the teeth. Whether it was the sight of Russian internationals Igor Akinfeev and Mario Fernandes doing brave defending, Marco Asensio never making the right decision in the final third or Toni Kroos not enjoying himself on Russian soil, Tuesday showed that Julen Lopetegui could only run from the demons he’d managed to avoid by getting sacked before the World Cup for so long.

Turner Sports is having a first go at broadcasting the Champions League in the U.S. Its first week came with mixed reviews (mostly negative), but a bizarre TNT Champions League outage in the first half of the Manchester United-Valencia match on Tuesday was by far the worst transgression as a broadcaster of the Champions League.

In all the noise surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Juventus, much was lost regarding the return of prodigal son Leonardo Bonucci. For many, AC Milan had gotten the better of a transfer that saw promising 24-year-old defender Mattia Caldara and Gonzalo Higuain land at the San Siro while the 31-year-old Bonucci — hot off his worst season as a professional — performed a sort of walk of shame back to Allianz Stadium.

Manchester City scraped by Hoffenheim and its young 31-year-old manager for a 2-1 win on Tuesday in the Champions League. The Citizens scored a late winner through David Silva, but that the match was even close to begin with comes down to the play of the two goalkeepers involved — a play each, to be precise. 

Finally, UEFA has confirmed it has common sense. On Thursday, the Executive Committee confirmed there will be VAR in Champions League matches starting with the 2019 season.