After a two-month break the UEFA Champions League returned this week as the knockout stages kicked off. We at The18 are trying something new and we’re picking our favorites for the best Champions League goals of the week.
Of the four games played this week eight goals were scored. Let’s get into the list.
5. Kylian Mbappé attacks at the back post
France captain Kylian Mbappé has informed Paris Saint-Germain that he is leaving the club in July as a free agent seven years after joining them, The Athletic website reported on Thursday.
Mbappé, a member of France's 2018 World Cup-winning team, signed for PSG from Monaco in 2017 for 180 million euros ($194 million) to become the second most expensive player ever after Brazilian Neymar, who joined the French champions the same year for 222 million euros.
AMSTERDAM — A Dutch court on Wednesday sentenced Spartak Moscow forward Quincy Promes to six years in prison in absentia for drug trafficking.
Former Dutch international Promes did not attend court hearings in Amsterdam and is not expected to return to the Netherlands in the foreseeable future.
Prosecutors last month sought a nine year sentence for Promes, for his involvement in the smuggling of 1,360kg (2,998 pounds) of cocaine through the port of Antwerp, Belgium, to the Netherlands in two shipments in 2020.
Quincy Promes cocaine sentencing
Bay FC have signed Zambia forward Racheal Kundananji from Spain's Madrid CFF, the clubs announced on Tuesday, with the American team paying up to a reported $860,000 to set a new world record in women's football.
The 23-year-old, who joined Madrid in 2022 from fellow Spanish top-tier side Eibar, signed a contract through the 2027 season with an extension option for the 2028 campaign, the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club said.
Bay FC break Women's transfer record
COPENHAGEN — Manchester City survived a scare to beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the Parken Stadium on Tuesday, with Phil Foden scoring late to ensure a two-goal cushion ahead of the second leg.
With the Danes still on their winter break, City dominated the opening exchanges and they took the lead in the 10th minute when Kevin De Bruyne scored with a brilliant first-time finish across the keeper and in at the far post.
Johnny is off to an impressive start with his new club in Spain and his most recent performances have made fans go crazy for the USMNT midfielder.
Playing his whole career in the Brasileirao, Johnny’s big-break transfer to Europe seemed like a big jump in competition level, subject to months of adaptation to a new league, new language and new country.
LEVERKUSEN — Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen outplayed champions Bayern Munich for a 3-0 victory on Saturday that sent them five points clear at the top of the league and put them firmly in charge of the title race.
Goals from Josip Stanisic, Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong made sure of the three points as Leverkusen, who have never won a Bundesliga title, and stretched their unbeaten run to 31 matches across all competitions this season.
Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu will host a National Football League (NFL) game in 2025, the league said on Friday, marking the first-ever regular season game played in Spain.
A total of 50 regular season NFL games have been played internationally so far, with Madrid becoming the fourth European city to host one after London, Munich and Frankfurt.
Real Madrid NFL game
PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain look set to leave the Parc des Princes after the City confirmed the stadium was not for sale, club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Thursday.
"It's too easy to say now that the stadium is not for sale anymore. We know what we want, we wasted years to try and buy it. It's easier for us now, we know what we want. It's over for us. We want to move out of the Parc," Al-Khelaifi told reporters at a UEFA Congress.
PSG leaving Parc des Princes
ATHENS — Greece will allow its top league soccer matches to be played with fans from Feb. 13, two months after top clubs were ordered to play behind closed doors following the severe injuring and death of a police officer in violence during a volleyball match.
In Greece, fights between football fans and clubs are frequent on and off the pitch before or after a game and the government has been trying for years to reform soccer plagued by criminal gangs and a minority of violent fans.