The excitement of the 2018 World Cup is already starting to fade a bit and you can’t wait for more soccer of the highest quality. Fortunately, you won’t have to wait long. The 2018-19 UEFA Champions League season has actually already begun. You may have missed it, but fret not. This guide will tell you exactly how the Champions League works, focusing on the European Champions League.
It should come as no surprise that teams from Europe (UEFA) and South America (CONMEBOL) have advanced to the knockout stages far more frequently than teams from Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF) and Central and North America (CONCACAF). Although the World Cup qualification spots take into account the relative strength of each region, the allocation also considers the importance of having a truly global spectacle.
On Saturday, May 26, at 2:45 p.m. ET, Real Madrid and Liverpool will contest the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League Final in Kiev, Ukraine. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch the 2018 Champions League Final between two of Europe’s most dominate clubs.
Tottenham Hotspur are in a pickle after conceding two goals via set pieces in the first 10 minutes against Juventus.
For the first, Juventus ran a pick play and Spurs switched off mentally, giving Gonzalo Higuain all the time he needed to score.
Bad defending, sure, but what a finish. https://t.co/0we1lkhSez
The return of UEFA Champions League and the beginning of the knockout stages marks a joyous time for any soccer fan. This season’s Round of 16 promises to be one of the most exciting yet. Matchups like Real Madrid vs. PSG, Juventus vs. Tottenham and Chelsea vs. Barcelona would be amazing finals for the event, but we’re lucky enough to have them in February and March. You're not going to want to miss any of the action.
Sitting fourth in La Liga and bounced in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, Real Madrid heads into Wednesday’s Champions League Round of 16 first leg tie against Paris Saint-Germain a wounded animal.
The UEFA Nations League is objectively a cool idea — turn meaningless friendlies into interesting competitions, replace boring lopsided matches with enticingly even matchups, create another tournament for players and fans to enjoy. But Wednesday’s draw didn’t exactly get the pulses racing for next fall’s Nations League schedule outside of a handful of UEFA’s 55 countries.
League A, Group 1 is awesome: Germany, France and the Netherlands. Group A4 is pretty good too: Spain, England and Croatia. But the other 14 groups fail to really move the needle.
UEFA, you may be a bit late to the party. The European soccer governing body released a list of 50 players to watch in 2018 on Friday, an index of rising stars who could become household names in the coming calendar year. By naming Mexico’s Hirving Lozano one to watch, UEFA is basically admitting it didn’t pay attention to the last half of 2017, when Chucky tore up the Eredivisie with first-place PSV Eindhoven.