The first leg of the Champions League is at an end and the second leg will undoubtedly showcase some tremendous drama. But before we get ahead of ourselves and the next set of games, it is time to take a look at the four fixtures from this week and glean over the surprises and shocks of the matchups. Here they are.
Well that was short. Barcelona essentially ended its hotly anticipated matchup with Paris Saint-Germain by destroying the French side 3-1 in Paris. After two hotly contested games in the group stage, many thought that PSG could put up a good battle with Luis Enrique's side. But alas, the Parisians lost more and more control of the game as it went alone and now face a tantamount task in Catalonia in the second leg. Win big or go home.
Here is what we learned from Barcelona's huge victory.
Poor Angel Di Maria. He won the Champions League with Real Madrid, essentially providing the defining performance of the final, but was all but forced out of the team last summer.
And now there are just eight. The quarterfinals for the Champions League are weeks away with the match ups being drawn on Friday morning Eastern Standard Time. Latin Post breaks down the power rankings for the top teams in the quarterfinals of Champions League.
The Champions League returns on Tuesday afternoon with the first two round of 16 matches. The competition is arguably one of the most hotly anticipated of the annual soccer season and this is the phase where things get most interesting.
But it has been a long time since we have seen teams play. In fact, the group round ended in December and teams have undoubtedly altered their styles and are in different form. So which teams are now the favorites to lift the European trophy based on current form?
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.
Also, after losing to Poland on Saturday, current World Cup winners Germany struggled yet again ending their game against the Republic of Ireland in 1-1 draw while the Serbia-Albania game is delayed due to a drone interrupting match.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are set to face up in a few weeks in what will be one of the most hotly anticipated games of the 2014-15 season. Both sides seem to be finding their identity and nowhere is this more important than on defense. Which side possesses the better defense?
After tremendous performances in Week Five and looking to continuing increasing their impressive stats, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continued their rivalry this weekend with two big games in Week Six of the 2014-15 Champions League and La Liga seasons.
Over the weekend it was announced that Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were close to reaching an agreement on midfielder Angel Di Maria. The move has not been made official, but it seems more and more likely that Di Maria is not going to be playing in Spain's capital in 2014-15. Here's a look at how Di Maria's potential departure would hurt Real Madrid.
