It’s been a difficult opening 45 for Borussia Dortmund against AS Monaco in their Champions League quarterfinal first leg at the Westfalenstadion. The match, which was postponed until today after a terrorist attack on Dortmund’s team bus, has been evenly contest, but Monaco have benefitted from two refereeing decisions and a comical own goal.
Frauke Koehle, a spokeswoman for Germany’s federal state prosecutor in Karlsruhe, has confirmed that the three explosives that were detonated outside the Borussia Dortmund team bus were pipe bombs capable of traveling more than 330 feet. One of the three explosive devices contained metal strips, according to prosecutors, including one pin that pierced a headrest of a bus seat.
Club form over the last five games
Bayern Munich - W L W W W
Real Madrid - D W W W W
Animal pitch invasions are some of the most fun things that can happen during soccer matches. Over the years we've seen dogs, cats, a cow, a deer, a snake, a seagull, a duck and a goat.
And now: SHEEP. Welcome to the Welsh Alliance League.
Only in God's country @CPDLlanberis v @JunctionFC today pic.twitter.com/TZwDwYGHPa
Barcelona will return to the Camp Nou for their quarterfinal second leg with less to do than in the round of 16, but that truth only goes as far as the paper it’s printed on. This Juventus side are a completely different animal than the PSG one Barcelona managed to overcome.
With unfortunate events transpiring in Germany and the Borussia Dortmund vs. AS Monaco match being postponed until tomorrow, all eyes are on Barcelona and Juventus.
Paulo Dybala didn't give viewers or Barcelona time to get settled into the match by opening the scoring in the seventh minute. The Argentine received a pass from South American brethren Juan Cuadrado after the Colombian froze Jérémy Mathieu with some fancy footwork. Dybala's snap shot gave the goalkeeper no chance.
Barcelona's slim chances of winning La Liga took another hit Tuesday when it was announced Neymar's rumored ban for sarcastically clapping at an official after he'd been sent off against Malaga had been made official.
The Brazilian attacker will miss three matches: April 15 against Real Sociedad, April 23 against Real Madrid and April 26 against Osasuna. Barcelona were already in dire need of a win against Real Madrid in El Clasico to keep their La Liga hopes alive, and missing 1/3 of their attacking buzzsaw will make their task that much more difficult.
Jose Mourinho has spoken at length recently about how difficult it is to be a manager of this next generation of players. They’re rich before their careers even take off, they have everything in their personal lives meticulously managed by others and they’re prey to the insidious advice of those that want a piece of the pie.
Barcelona’s form since their historic comeback victory over Paris Saint-Germain has been representative of those two ridiculous legs and Barca’s La Liga campaign on the whole.
Real Madrid's hold on the division once looked a certainty as their unbeaten streak reached new heights, but February and early March saw Barcelona win six straight matches in the league while Real dropped four points to Valencia and Las Palmas.
Don't expect a competitive affair in tomorrow morning's Der Klassiker with both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund looking ahead to their upcoming Champions League quarterfinals. Expect both teams to rest quite a few of their star players as they try to conserve energy and fitness for these huge games.
Borussia Dortmund will have one eye on AS Monaco, Ligue 1's only remaining club. Monaco did more than prove themselves in the round of 16 after defeating Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. That match comes on Tuesday, only three days after Der Klassiker.