It's Not Soccer...

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Let's get one thing straight from the start, it's not soccer. Foot + Ball = Football, and the other football is American Football, which is better known as the Tom Brady league. The Super Bowl has come and gone; now its European Championship time!

For a couple weeks in the spring we rejoice as the intro song rings in our ears, and we fans echo the call of THE CHAMPIONSSS (if you didn't sing that in your head you need help). The first leg of the Round of 16 didn't disappoint as we got close-fought matches, surprising upsets, and goals galore! Read down below for my analysis of each match.

Liverpool 2-0 RB Leipzig

First up we had Jurgen Klopp's boys against an up and coming RB Leipzig side. The teams shared possession of the ball, but Liverpool coasted for easy win, with both main man Mohammed Salah and winger Sadio Mane capitalizing on defensive mistakes to bag a goal each. The German side was unable to score and face an uphill battle during the next leg at Anfield. 

Barcelona 1-4 PSG

The city of champions is in ruins after Kylian Mbappe and the Parisians sped past the Catalan defense to bag 4 goals and a comfortable lead before they return home for the next leg. We saw a repeat of the two sides' meeting in the 2016/2017 season where PSG led 4-0 in the first leg only to choke and concede 6 in the second leg. However this year seems different. The Parisian side seemed more confident on attacking the ball, an odd thing to see with superstar strike duo Neymar and Angel Di Maria out of the game. Barcelona were first to score as Messi hit home a penalty, but alas he can only carry the team so far. The real star of the show was wonderkid Kylian Mbappe, getting himself a hattrick and easily dismantling the Barcelona defense, the Catalan side will need to have a better answer for him in the next leg if they hope to win. 

Sevilla 2-3 Dortmund

A deadly back and forth filled with emotion and superstar talent, this was the best game of the week in my opinion. Sevilla, the kings of Europa league, attempt to make their mark in the big boys league; and for the first couple of minutes, it looked like their dreams would come true. The Spanish side passed the ball beautifully for a resulting team goal within only 7 minutes. The Germans answered with ruthless efficiency as the skills of Norwegian youth Erling Halaand were on full display. The youngster did it all as he assisted the first goal and scored the next two before the first half ended. Some poor defending by Dortmund allowed the Spaniards in the form of De Jong to get one back and what could've been a second before VAR ruled no penalty in the 93rd minute. The game is up for grabs as the two sides are set to battle it out in Germany for the next leg.

Porto 2-1 Juventus

The goal machine Cristiano Ronaldo was missing from this match as Porto scored two and held the Italian giants at bay for most of the match. Porto came into the match with high hopes and a home field advantage as they proceeded to park the bus on Pirlo's men. Porto enjoy their first win against Juventus in European competition. The Portuguese side struck early with a goal within 2 minutes and a second just after the half putting the Italians under pressure. Pirlo and Juventus didn't seem to have an answer against Porto's shutdown defense with Chiesa luckily slotting home a rare mistake in the 82nd minute. The game went abysmally for the King of the Champions league Cristiano Ronaldo as he was denied a late penalty. Juventus is home for the next leg and have some serious changes to make if they hope to break down Porto's defense.

Atletico Madrid 0-1 Chelsea

Olivier Giroud's acrobatics and a bit of help from VAR kept Chelsea ahead of the Spanish side on the scoreboard. The game was best remembered as a tight fought draw with many close shots on goal and a few spectacular saves from the keepers. Halftime ended nil-nil as both sides failed to succeed in the final third. Then in the 68th minute Giroud pulled out the gymnastics routine as he sent an overhead kick screaming past Oblak in goal. The goal was initially ruled offsides by the referee, but VAR quickly overturned that decision. The Blues scored a crucial away goal and will carry on home for the next leg, while Diego Simeone and his group try to forget the night and look forward.

Lazio 1-4 Bayern 

The reigning champions showed Lazio who's boss as they trounced the Italians with a comfortable three goal lead heading into the second leg. It was Robert Lewadowski's night to shine as his 9th minute goal pushed him into legendary status, passing Raul to become the third highest top-scorer in the history of the competition with 72 total goals, trailing only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (134 goals) and Lionel Messi (119 goals). The Germans led three to nothing at halftime with the hosts struggling to find an answer for the deadly Munich attack. The night went from bad to worse as Lazio scored an own goal in the 47th minute. However, things did improve as Correa slotted one past Manual Neuer a few minutes later. Anything is possible but it looks like Bayern are comfortably back on their way to the quarter finals. 

Atalanta 0-1 Real Madrid

A game with more fouls than finesse, this matchup offered an uninteresting tie as Atalanta folded to Zinedine Zidane's side. A thoroughly uninteresting game as Atalanta only had two shots (both in the first half) and neither were on target. Real Madrid was essentially given free reign to wreak havoc after Atalanta went a man down in the 17th minute but failed to excite and were only rescued by an outside-the-box beauty from Ferland Mendy. This was the Frenchman's first Champion's League goal, and he may struggle to get more if Real cannot get back into form. Hopefully, the next leg in Madrid will offer up more excitement.

Monchengladbach 0-2 Man City

Jesus saves the day! No really, Gabriel Jesus added to Bernardo Silva's goal to put Man City up by two against Monchengladbach ahead of the second leg. A sad story for the German side really; 37% of all the goals they've conceded in the Champions League have come from City. Today was not unexpected as the Premier League leaders showed they can compete in Europe as well. City dominated from the beginning and comfortably held on to the clean sheet. Gladbach didn't have any prayers in defense and only had a couple shots on goal that were securely scooped up by City keeper Ederson. The English side looks ready to go to the quarter finals and will just need to hold Gladbach at bay during the next leg at home.

Top Goals of the Week:

1. Lewandowski's goal against Lazio takes the top spot this week as he becomes the third top-scorer in the history of the competition, placing the Polish international in legendary company with CR7 and Messi at the top of the leaderboard.

2. Olivier Giroud showed age is just a number as the 34 year-old sliced an overhead kick into the back of the net and guaranteed himself the second spot on this list.

3. Kylian Mbappe

4. Kylian MF Mbappe

5. Mbappe's hattrick against Barcelona places in him in the three remaining spots. The young Frenchman shred through the Catalan defense not once, not twice, but three times. 

Overall the first part of the Round of 16 proved who could score and win with ease and which teams may need strategical changes (*cough* Real Madrid *cough*). We got a measure of the talent pool with exciting prospects Halaand and Mbappe and veterans Lewandowski and Giroud all bagging goals. The second week of March can't come fast enough! 

What are your thoughts on the first leg of the Round of 16? Let me know in the comments below!

Goodbye! Adios! Arrivederci! Au Revoir! Auf Wiedersehen! Sayonara!