Champions League

In a game that could prove crucial in the fight for European qualification, Real Sociedad plays host to Valencia on Saturday. The Basque side currently sits in eighth place, just one point behind Valencia in seventh. If other results go favorably, a win could see either team break into the top four. Valencia is only behind rival Villareal on goal difference while Atletico Madrid and Sevilla, fourth and fifth in the table, respectively, are level on 40 points, two points ahead. 

In terms of a 1-0 scoreline, there’s no greater beatdown than the one RB Leipzig just administered to Tottenham in London on Wednesday. The difference on the scoreboard was Timo Werner’s 58th-minute penalty, but the difference on the pitch was an incredible gulf in tempo, build-up play and variation in attack.

Soccer is a sport often defined by tradition. A player’s jersey number is often indicative of his or her position on the pitch, a practice dating back more than a century. 

But Atalanta players don’t give a fuck about jersey number conventions, and they’re on the verge of taking their No. 88s and No. 95s and No. 72s right to the Champions League quarterfinals.

Atalanta smashed Valencia 4-1 in the first leg of their UCL Round of 16 match on Wednesday at the San Siro. The second leg in is March 10 at the Mestalla.

Diego Simeone once summed up his coaching philosophy in one brief sentence: “Effort is non-negotiable.” 

On Tuesday, the Atlético team on the pitch at the Wanda Metropolitano fully embodied its manager in a heroic 1-0 Champions League Round of 16 first-leg victory over defending champion Liverpool.  

Giovanni Reyna made quite the first impression in his Champions League debut.

The American teenager supplied the game-winning assist as Borussia Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the first leg of their UCL round-of-16 match on Tuesday at the Westfalenstadion. 

The second leg is scheduled for March 11 in Paris, with the German side holding a slight edge thanks to Lucien Favre’s introduction of Gio, the son of former USMNT captain Claudio Reyna.