AC Milan

Weekend review: The major talking points from European soccer

Talking points from the weekend in European soccer leagues:

BARCELONA TAKE HUGE STEP TOWARDS LALIGA TITLE

Barcelona have tightened their grip at the top of the LaLiga standings after an electric 2-1 comeback win in an El Clásico against bitter rivals Real Madrid on Sunday.

Franck Kessié's stunner in added time gave Barça a well-earned victory that left second-placed Real trailing the leaders by 12 points with only 12 games to be played.

Champions League quarterfinal draw will see unlikely team guaranteed to make final

NYON — Holders Real Madrid will play 2021 winners Chelsea in the Champions League quarterfinals while Manchester City's Pep Guardiola will visit his former club Bayern Munich after the teams were drawn together on Friday.

Reigning Serie A champions AC Milan will face this season's runaway leaders Napoli in an all-Italian clash while Inter Milan play Portuguese side Benfica.

Wild 20 seconds sees Spurs almost equalize and AC Milan hit the post at other end

LONDON — Seven-time winners AC Milan reached the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in 11 years as a disciplined display earned them a drab 0-0 draw at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday and a 1-0 aggregate victory.

On a freezing night in north London the Italians comfortably protected the slender advantage they established in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the San Siro as Tottenham huffed and puffed to little effect and exited with a whimper.

Champions League panic rankings: How each team's feeling before second legs

Domestic action returns to the fore with the FA Cup, Copa del Rey and Coupe de France dominating the midweek action, but the Champions League is set to return with the Round of 16 second legs on March 7/8-14/15. 

We've got some dynamite return legs brewing with five of the eight matches separated by one goal or less, and who knows, maybe Liverpool can finally deliver some excitement now that nothing's expected from them. 

41-year-old Zlatan competes with his 16-year-old son at AC Milan training session

Zlatan Ibrahimović is one of the world's most brazenly outspoken footballers, and as a result of that he's also one of the most widely publicized. However, the 41-year-old maintains a largely anonymous private life, spending much of his offseason time in Malmö with longtime partner Helena Seger and their two sons Maximilian (age 16) and Vincent (age 14).

Brahim dolphin dives over goalkeeper to score AC Milan’s game-winner vs. Tottenham

AC Milan marked their long-awaited return to the UEFA Champions League knockout stages with an important 1-0 victory vs. Tottenham at the San Siro on Tuesday in leg one of the Round of 16 matchup.

The game-winning goal came as early as the seventh minute when Brahim Díaz bundled the ball into Spurs’ net.

With Hugo Lloris out with a knee injury Fraser Forster filled in between the posts for Tottenham. Moments before the Milan goal the 34-year-old keeper produced an incredible double-save.

The18's UEFA Champions League Round of 16 predictions

Football's greatest club competition resumes Feb. 14 with the beginning of the knockout stages. Accordingly, our 2022-23 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 predictions examine which eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals.

There's a lot of consensus around Manchester City vs. RB Leipzig and Napoli vs. Eintracht Frankfurt, but three matchups are almost too close to call: Chelsea vs. Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan vs. Porto and the big one between PSG and Bayern Munich.

Let's gaze into the crystal ball.

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