The soap opera that is sports always rivets for what takes place on the battle field. But often times the stories that take place far away from the pitch are just as unique and special. They make for some interesting conversation and add an element to the world of sports that moves into the social, political and economic realm.
This year featured a number of off-pitch events that continued to elevate the dynamics of soccer and add new elements that are rarely discussed. As part of our Best of 2014 feature series, writer David Salazar and Edwin Molina look at two off-pitch events that really brought the soccer conversation to a new level.
Manchester City, playing without Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and English Premier League (EPL) leading scorer Sergio Aguero, managed to defy the odds, defeating Series A club AS Roma to advance to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Luis Suarez helped Barcelona beat PSG with an assist to Lionel Messi -- scoring his 75th career Champions League, three ahead of Cristiano Ronald on the all-time scorers list -- and scoring his first goal with the Catalan club since his transfer from Liverpool.
After scoring a hat-trick to break Spain's La Liga all-time scoring record against Sevilla over the weekend, Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick on Wednesday against Cyrus champion APOEL FC on Tuesday to surpass Raul's all-time scorers record in UEFA Champions League history.
Lionel Messi made history when he scored his 70th and 71st career UEFA Champions League goals helping Barcelona beat Ajax Amsterdam 2-0, helping the Spanish club advance into the Round of 16. Barcelona will be joined by Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, Ligue 1 champs Paris Saint-Germain and Primeira Liga club Porto in the next phase of the tournament.
Forty goals were scored on Tuesday, a record for an eight-game night of UEFA Champions League's action that saw Shakhtar Donetsk' Luiz Adriano tie Lionel Messi's record for most goals in a game while Messi got closer to Raul's Champions League career record.
