In terms of a 1-0 scoreline, there’s no greater beatdown than the one RB Leipzig just administered to Tottenham in London on Wednesday. The difference on the scoreboard was Timo Werner’s 58th-minute penalty, but the difference on the pitch was an incredible gulf in tempo, build-up play and variation in attack.

Soccer is a sport often defined by tradition. A player’s jersey number is often indicative of his or her position on the pitch, a practice dating back more than a century. 

But Atalanta players don’t give a fuck about jersey number conventions, and they’re on the verge of taking their No. 88s and No. 95s and No. 72s right to the Champions League quarterfinals.

Atalanta smashed Valencia 4-1 in the first leg of their UCL Round of 16 match on Wednesday at the San Siro. The second leg in is March 10 at the Mestalla.

Diego Simeone once summed up his coaching philosophy in one brief sentence: “Effort is non-negotiable.” 

On Tuesday, the Atlético team on the pitch at the Wanda Metropolitano fully embodied its manager in a heroic 1-0 Champions League Round of 16 first-leg victory over defending champion Liverpool.  

Giovanni Reyna made quite the first impression in his Champions League debut.

The American teenager supplied the game-winning assist as Borussia Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the first leg of their UCL round-of-16 match on Tuesday at the Westfalenstadion. 

The second leg is scheduled for March 11 in Paris, with the German side holding a slight edge thanks to Lucien Favre’s introduction of Gio, the son of former USMNT captain Claudio Reyna. 

For once, UEFA has shown it’s got a bit of a spine. After years of failing to truly punish violators of Financial Fair Play, UEFA handed down its biggest penalty yet, banning Manchester City from the Champions League for two seasons on Friday. The English club was also fined $32.5 million. The Man City UCL ban is subject to appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

BREAKING: Manchester City banned from Champions League for two seasons by UEFA and fined 30 million euros