Barcelona opened a 10-point lead at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 victory over Eibar, although Atletico Madrid can again reduce the gap when they host Athletic Bilbao Sunday. The game-winner was scored by Luis Suarez — his 17th in 21 league matches — in the 16th minute after the Uruguayan striker was played through by an inch-perfect ball from Lionel Messi.
Next Tuesday, Chelsea and Barcelona will renew one of the greatest footballing rivalries of the 21st century. Beginning in 2000 and ending with that Fernando Torres goal scored almost six years ago, Barca and Chelsea met 12 times in the Champions League, including the 2000 quarterfinals, the 2005 and 2006 Round of 16 and the 2009 and 2012 semifinals.
WATCH THIS: Greatest Games, 2009 UCL Semifinal
Liverpool are red,
Porto are blue
The Reds won 5-0
And are (almost) certainly through
Roses are red
Away goals are cool
That was a bit of a shitshow
Porto's goalkeeper is not very good
In an individual matchup that was billed by many as the past of football versus the future, it was Cristiano Ronaldo — seven years the senior — who once again delivered while Neymar’s myriad of mazy dribbles led to naught.
In the age of the meme, the superstars of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain delivered pretty on-brand performances.
Ronaldo struggled mightily in the opening 44 minutes, putting a free kick from just outside the box over in the 26’ before wasting a wonderful opportunity only two minutes later.
What crisis in Madrid? All’s well for Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid after an impressive 3-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday. While there’s still a second leg to play in Paris, the Real Madrid vs PSG fixture is now the defending champions’ to lose.
After Gonzalo Higuain scored twice in the first 10 minutes for Juventus, it looked like this Champions League knockout tie was done and dusted. However, after Higuain missed a good chance on the counter to make it 3-0, Harry Kane made it very much a game.
Tottenham’s torrent form at Wembley continued; Arsenal’s did not. Spurs won the North London derby 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a Harry Kane header and the Gunners’ hopes of securing the Arsene Wenger Memorial Trophy for finishing in the top four are all but dead.
Gianluigi Buffon, a legend of the game, set another milestone on Friday. The Italian goalkeeper made his 500th league appearance for the Bianconeri in a 2-0 win for Juventus vs Fiorentina at Stadio Artemio Franchi. Buffon also had a clean sheet — thanks to a little help from VAR and the woodwork.
Toronto FC are on a barnstorming tour of Mexico warming up for the MLS regular season (read about the lengths teams will go to try to stop a Sebastian Giovinco free kick here), which led them to a friendly against local Mexico City club Mexican Navy. We are not making that name up.
Philippe Coutinho scored his first goal for Barcelona after coming on as a halftime substitute in their Copa del Rey semifinal second leg against Valencia Thursday. Coutinho scored four minutes after coming on as Barcelona eased into the final with a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Coutinho’s finish was sure a tidy one, but the majority of the credit has to go to Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan brilliantly worked a bit of space before turning provider for Barca’s all-important away goal at a packed Mestalla.