In a sign of just how good Bayern Munich is right now, the German giants went down a man in the 12th minute and still found a way to demolish Stuttgart 4-0 on Saturday at Allianz Arena.
Alphonso Davies was shown the first red card of his career, but it mattered little as Bayern scored three times in the 10 minutes that followed. Robert Lewandowski had a perfect hat trick by halftime as he passed yet another milestone.
With playing time drying up at Newcastle, American fullback DeAndre Yedlin was allowed to leave on a free transfer to Galatasaray at the end of January. At one time one of the most promising Americans in Europe, the former Sounders speedster had seemingly run out of options in England after stints at Tottenham, Sunderland and Newcastle.
David Ochoa might not have been expected to be the first-choice keeper for the U.S. at the Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, but Jason Kreis is sure glad he went with the Real Salt Lake goalie in the USMNT’s opener. Ochoa made nine saves and Jesús Ferreira scored on the other end as the U.S. opened the qualifying tournament with a nervy 1-0 win over Costa Rica on Thursday in in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Last year, Atlético Madrid came to England and stunned reigning champion Liverpool. On Wednesday, the same team came to England and limped out of the competition, with American Christian Pulisic setting up the dagger in a 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. Thomas Tuchel’s side thoroughly stifled Diego Simeone’s men for a 3-0 aggregate victory in the Champions League Round of 16, and Pulisic provided the assist on the final nail in Atleti’s coffin.
Fresh off the announcement that he’d been included in Gregg Berhalter’s 26-man squad for a pair of USMNT friendlies at the end of the month, Daryl Dike went and scored a brace for Barnsley on Wednesday, bringing his Championship total to five goals in 10 games.
Manchester City cantered into the Champions League quarterfinals at a conservational pace by putting Borussia Mönchengladbach away inside 20 minutes during their last-16 second leg in Budapest on Tuesday. Enjoyable goals from Kevin De Bruyne and İlkay Gündoğan made it 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate, making the final hour of the game an exercise in talking about Sergio Agüero’s future.
Real Madrid was a bit fortunate to escape its first-leg Round of 16 Champions League match with Atalanta with a win. It fully deserved its win back at home on Tuesday.
Karim Benzema capitalized on an awful mistake from Atalanta’s keeper to set Real Madrid on its way to a 3-1 win on Tuesday in Madrid. Los Blancos advanced to the quarterfinals 4-1 on aggregate.
With his 767th Barcelona appearance coming in Monday’s LaLiga match against Huesca, Lionel Messi equalled Xavi’s record for most in the legendary Blaugrana shirt.
Right before kickoff, the club released a video in which Barcelona stars past and present congratulated the 33-year-old on his remarkable feat of otherworldly consistency and longevity.
11 matches into the 2021 Guard1anes season and the table already shows a 13-point difference between América and Chivas following Sunday’s Súper Clásico in Guadalajara. América’s dominance in the 3-0 win was evident before Miguel Ponce’s straight red card allowed things to get out of control, as Chivas could never come to gripes with the threat posed by Henry Martín, Sebastián Córdova and Álvaro Fidalgo.