Harry Kane went down with what appears to be a season-ending ankle injury in Tottenham’s win over Manchester City on Tuesday. Losing such a vital figure for the end of a season that still has so much to play for is a massive loss for Spurs — but based on the evidence of Saturday’s Lucas Moura hat trick, they might actually be better off.
Even though the EFL Championship is not easy to find on American television spare ESPN+, soccer fans will have at least heard about Norwich City, Leeds United and Sheffield United’s push for the top two promotion spots. Usually, the teams and players at the top of the Championship get a lot of the rare press and rightly so, but there is one hidden gem not in the top six in England’s second division that could soon light up the Premier League: Jarrod Bowen.
You might want to remember the name João Félix.
Who is João Félix, you ask? Let his three goals and an assist in Benfica’s 4-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday do the talking for the 19-year-old Portuguese forward.
Félix, who sports the No. 79 on his back, scored his first career Europa League goal on Thursday, then added a second before halftime. He completed his hat trick in the second half to help Benfica take a 4-2 advantage after the first leg of the quarterfinals.
In the Champions League quarterfinals, Barcelona came out with a solid 1-0 away victory over Manchester United.
It only took 12 minutes for Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez magic to commence, but neither will be credited for the Barcelona score.
A fantastic cross from the GOAT found Suarez on the far post. Suarez then headed it into traffic in front of the United goal and a bounce off left back Luke Shaw would be all she wrote for Manchester.
Juventus had no excuse not to be prepared. After what Ajax did to Real Madrid (not to mention Bayern Munich in the group stage), the Bianconeri knew they were in for a fight against the Dutch side.
After one leg in the Champions League quarterfinals, it’s all even heading back to the Allianz Stadium in Turin.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brilliant diving header just before the halftime whistle only to have David Neres score moments into the second half in a 1-1 draw on Tuesday at the Amsterdam Arena.
Although Lionel Messi is consistently targeted by opposing defenses, it’s rare that he takes too much physical abuse from opponents. Quick on his feet and with a low center of gravity, the Barcelona No. 10 is usually able to avoid the brunt of challenges he faces.
But when he’s attacked from behind, as he was by Manchester United’s Chris Smalling, there’s little Messi can do to prevent harm.
Manchester United’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Barcelona did not start well.
The Blaugrana (or neon yellows, as it was), opened the scoring a dozen minutes into the match at Old Trafford on Tuesday thanks to some interplay from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez — and some help from the Video Assistant Referee.
Thorgan Hazard has been a revelation for Borussia Mönchengladbach this season. The Belgian has scored 12 goals and assisted 12 in all competitions in Germany and has attracted suitors from across Europe.
Hazard left Chelsea on loan to Möchengladbach in 2015, where he would earn a permanent stay.
Tottenham’s first-ever match at the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium went just about perfectly. Its second was pretty spectacular too.
Son Heung-min scored in the 78th minute to propel Spurs to a 1-0 victory over Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over Porto at Anfield on Tuesday was a microcosm of the club’s current Premier League form: There were nervy moments, a couple lapses and some erratic finishing from Mohamed Salah, but victory was achieved and it could've been achieved much more emphatically.
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