The Champions League Round of 16 draw results are in, and although we have to wait until mid-February to get started, some things are too tasty to be left on the back-burner for that long. Here’s a look at all eight matchups, and an incredibly scientific ranking of which ties get us all hot and bothered.
Spectacular. The round of 16 draw
Replacing Cristiano Ronaldo’s average of 50 goals per season throughout his nine-year stay in Madrid has (surprise!) proven impossible for Los Blancos. Things probably reached rock bottom following that 5-1 defeat to Barcelona back in October — the climax of a five-match winless streak in LaLiga that included defeats to Alavés and Levante — but yesterday’s 3-0 loss to CSKA Moscow at the Bernabéu is right up there with that torrid stretch.
Thomas Müller was all apologies Wednesday and Thursday.
He started apologizing before Nicolás Tagliafico hit the ground. He kept apologizing as he was shown red. He tried to apologize in person after the match. And he kept apologizing the next day.
Müller’s red card against Ajax on Wednesday was one of the worst you’ll see in the Champions League — a flying kick to the head. But Müller responded exactly how you’d hope a professional footballer would after such a vicious attack.