Up until their quarterfinal defeat to Brazil, no side was more thoroughly entertaining at the 2014 World Cup than Colombia. James Rodriguez was the tournament’s standout performer and plenty of additional firepower was provided by the likes of Juan Cuadrado, Jackson Martinez and Teofilo Gutierrez.
Waking up this morning to work out any takeaways from the first leg of Manchester City’s clash with Monaco is like piecing together a night of heavy drinking. It was a night of degeneracy — mistakes were made, people were throwing themselves headfirst at objects and someone pulled out their Willy (Caballero).
As we move toward the second leg at the Stade Louis II in Monaco on March 15, the most obvious talking point will be City’s defense of their two-goal advantage. So what’s Pep Guardiola’s plan?
Free-scoring Monaco met Pep Guardiola’s equally attack-minded Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, and then all hell broke loose. Fox Sports guaranteed us goals on FS1, and they didn’t lie to us.
Goals guaranteed as Man City host high-flying Monaco in the @ChampionsLeague Round of 16!
It only took Monaco six minutes to respond to Manchester City’s opening goal. Radamel Falcao cashed in with a perfect diving header to even up the score. It was his 14th goal in 15 games across all competitions.
Textbook diving header from Falcao, his 14th goal in 15 games (all comps). #UCL #MCIASM https://t.co/8TMQeD84KD
For all of Tottenham’s sustained excellence throughout the 2015-16 Premier League season, they’ve now got absolutely nothing to show for it. Arsenal infamously pipped Spurs to the runner-up position on the final day of the season, launching an improbable St. Totteringham’s Day, and they’ve now thrown away their reward for finishing third by being eliminated in the Champions League group stage.
Radamel Falcao used to be the most feared striker in the world. That's not an exaggeration. At the height of his powers, he was feared more than Suarez, more than Lewandowski and more than Benzema.
In his last season at Atletico Madrid, the Colombian scored 28 goals in 34 appearances. In fact, he ranked right behind Messi and Ronaldo as one of the best players on the planet.
Just check out Falcao's stats below.
Radamel Falcao's stats:
Radamel Falcao is not one of the elite scorers in world soccer anymore. In less than two years, he went from being one of the most feared strikers to, when healthy, just another scrub on the Manchester United and Chelsea benches.
For several months, Falcao has exhibited a low level of football and an impressive goal drought, a far cry from the player who scored 70 goals in 91 games with Atletico Madrid between 2011 and 2013.
Radamel Falcao's parrot can squawk "Gol de Falcao!"