Champions League

With the halftime whistle approaching and PSG nursing a slender 1-0 lead over RB Leipzig despite a dominant opening 45 that included seven shots and 70 percent possession, a horrible turnover from Péter Gulácsi presented the Parisian side with a chance to double its advantage. 

The Leipzig keeper’s pass initially went straight to Leandro Paredes, who rifled a ball at Neymar just inside the area. For the normal footballer there’s not a lot that can be done with Paredes’ pass, but Neymar is not a normal footballer.

The18 has made its opinion on fake crowd noise extremely clear and there's no need to reiterate how we feel. Instead, the goal this time is to take a closer look at how the Champions League fake crowd noise functions. This article will look at where the sounds come from, who controls them and other frequently asked questions revolving around the spooky invisible fans jeering footballers.

Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé could start Tuesday's Champions League semifinal against RB Leipzig, as the French club target their first appearance in a Champions League final.

Mbappé came off the bench for the last half hour against Atalanta last week to set up the winning goal, and Thomas Tuchel told a news conference the France World Cup winner had suffered no reaction to his injured ankle.

Friday’s 8-2 humiliation against Bayern Munich will undoubtedly see heads roll at Barcelona, from dead man walking Quique Setién to the elderly cohort of Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suárez and Ivan Rakitić. 

But the biggest question mark remains the future of Lionel Messi, who dictates his own future following the most humiliating defeat in Barça history. 

With the millions they have invested in top players and with the most respected coach of his generation in charge, Manchester City should be doing much better than going out of the Champions League in the last eight.

But after their shock 3-1 defeat by Lyon on Saturday that is exactly what City have done in the last three years.

After being eliminated at the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League for a third straight year, Manchester City and manager Pep Guardiola, perhaps unexpectedly, find themselves at a crossroads.

Despite the criticism that Guardiola has faced for his cautious tactics in the 3-1 loss to Lyon on Saturday and the questions about whether he is over-complicating the task in Europe, there is no suggestion that the City hierarchy has lost confidence in the Spaniard.

This was supposed to be the year for Manchester City. Having seen Liverpool run away with the Premier League title, Pep Guardiola’s side focused on the Champions League. The Citizens saw off Real Madrid in the Round of 16 and seemingly had an easy path to the semifinals after Lyon stunning Juventus.

But with just the seventh-place Ligue 1 side in its path, Manchester City once again stumbled in the Champions League.

Mauricio Pochettino once said he would rather return to his ranch in Argentina than coach Barcelona, yet he is now the top candidate to be their next manager as they look to the future after Friday's 8-2 drubbing by Bayern Munich.

Quique Setien is certain to be sacked after Barca were humiliated in the Champions League quarter-final, a result which completed a miserable season, as for the first time since 2014 they failed to win a major trophy.

LISBON — For the first time in 13 years, there is no Spanish team in the semifinals of the Champions League and the way in which Barcelona were dumped out, with an 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich, emphatically ended the era of LaLiga supremacy.

There was one basic similarity in the way that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid exited Europe this season — they simply looked too slow.

It is not that their players individually lack speed but that their styles of play lack the intensity and dynamism, the relentless pressing of the top German and English teams.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said radical changes were needed from top to bottom after his side were annihilated 8-2 by Bayern Munich on Friday to exit the Champions League in one of the Catalan side's darkest ever nights.

"We feel devastated, although shame is the real word I'm looking for. We cannot afford to compete like this because it's not the first, the second or the third time that something like this has happened," a tearful Pique told reporters after the quarter-final drubbing, their worst ever result in Europe.