Champions League

The retooling of Barcelona is continuing at a frantic pace with the firing of Quique Setién and hiring of Ronald Koeman as manager and the firing of Eric Abidal and hiring of Ramon Planes as technical director, but you can’t say that the club’s specter isn’t still haunting this season’s Champions League with former player Neymar and current loanee Philippe Coutinho set to do battle in the final. 

Bayern Munich has no time for trifling sympathies. Bayern Munich is going to destroy everyone in its path.

Serge Gnabry scored twice in the first half and Robert Lewandowski provided his obligatory goal in the second as the German giants stifled Lyon 3-0 on Wednesday in Lisbon to advance to the Champions League final. Bayern will play Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday for the completion of an unorthodox but epic 2020 Champions League season.

On Friday, Aug. 21, the UEFA Women’s Champions League returns with the quarterfinals of the competition following a layoff that hasn’t seen a match played since last Halloween. 

However, the tournament now returns in grand style with a knockout-style format in the Basque Country of northern Spain. Athletic Bilbao’s San Mamés and Real Sociedad’s Anoeta host the remainder of the competition, and Friday’s match in San Sebastián sees Wolfsburg — two-time winner of the competition — take on the only remaining part-time team left, Scotland’s Glasgow City.

Tyler Adams was given 27 minutes to rescue RB Leipzig. Brought on by Julian Nagelsmann in the 63rd minute, his side already trailing by three goals, the New Yorker was hoping to make an immediate impact.

His initial contribution, however, was to play horsey-ride with PSG megastar Neymar.

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.