“When UEFA changed the format of the Champions League, it was for nights like this. The Swiss model, now more famous than Swiss Cottage station on the London Tube network but not yet as famous as Swiss cheese, replaced the old eight groups of four model (less catchy) in 2024. The final day was pretty good last year, with 64 goals in the 18 games, but no big teams dropped out and the big will-they-won’t-they? of the night saw Paris Saint-Germain stroll past Stuttgart 4-1 to avoid an early elimination (wonder what happened to them). …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Welcome to ‘Wild Wednesday’: Watching five minutes of all 18 Champions League games
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“Liverpool had just secured a 3-0 win away at Marseille in the UEFA Champions League last Wednesday when the text message landed on Jamie Carragher’s phone. The former Liverpool defender was in the middle of post-match analysis on CBS Sports in the United States but his mother, Paula, stole the show. ‘Oh my god,’ she wrote. ‘What a win! Been at the theatre, just seen the score, made up!’ Encouraged by his co-analyst Micah Richards (known as Big Meeks at CBS towers), 
A protester wearing a placard and distributing leaflets against the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan and advocating for the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games
“Anyone not plugged into football’s online discourse may have missed it, but the analytics community was rocked by a seismic event last week. FBref.com, once the great Alexandrian library of free football data, has been stripped of its advanced metrics after announcing on January 20 that Stats Perform, the company behind Opta, had informed them it was terminating their data agreement. Why did this happen? What does it mean for the availability of advanced football data, or for informed, independent football analysis? And can we enjoy expected goals anywhere else online? Here is an attempt to explain… ”
“Whatever Hansi Flick said in the Barcelona dressing room at half time, it worked wonders. Having gone 1-0 down to Copenhagen in the fourth minute, goals from Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Marcus Rashford steered the Catalans into the Champions League last 16 with a 4-1 home victory on Wednesday night. It means Barca avoid having to contest a play-off to reach the knockout stages proper, after a win that moved them up into the top eight of the league phase table. For Copenhagen, a spirited and battling display ultimately ends with defeat and elimination. …”
“A 3-2 Chelsea win in Naples has sealed a top-eight finish in the Champions League for the Premier League side and eliminated their opponents from the competition, as Liam Rosenior’s promising start at the club continues. It was advantage Chelsea early on, after Enzo Fernandez’s 19th-minute penalty put the London side 1-0 up. Napoli were unhappy with the decision to penalise Juan Jesus — jumping up from his position in a defensive wall — for handball. And the home side seemingly used that sense of injustice to shake off their lethargy, with the rest of the first half a consistent stream of Napoli attacks. …”
“Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain are both now in the Champions League knockout phase play-offs after a tense 1-1 draw at Parc des Princes. Both went into the game in the top eight teams — who go straight to the last 16 — but results elsewhere mean they will need two-legged play-offs to advance further. Vitinha put PSG ahead with a beautifully-placed finish after Ousmane Dembele had missed an early penalty given harshly against Lewis Miley for a handball. And though the hosts dominated the majority of the first half, Joe Willock headed in an equaliser just before the break with Newcastle’s first shot on target. …”
Scissors Kick 