“It has not been a great week for Premier League clubs in the Champions League. Just two of the six teams that made it into the last 16 are through to the quarter-finals, with the other four losing their ties by a combined score of 28-11 on aggregate. Newcastle United’s 8-3 loss to Barcelona and Chelsea’s 8-2 against Paris Saint-Germain will especially sting, given both Premier League sides matched their opponents for a sizeable part of the four games. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
The Premier League is hooked on man-marking. In the Champions League, they are paying for it
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“We’re at the business end of the Champions League, with the eight quarter-finalists now decided. It’s a heavyweight line-up, with four of the competition’s five most successful clubs still in the tournament, plus last year’s winners Paris Saint-Germain and Premier League leaders Arsenal. Real Madrid (15), Liverpool (six), Bayern Munich (six) and Barcelona (five) have won 32 of the 70 European Cup/Champions League trophies between them since Madrid lifted the first trophy back in 1956, but who has their name on this year’s trophy? …”
“It was the only moment all night when a hush descended on Anfield. A fervent crowd had been braced for the net to bulge. Instead, there was a collective state of incredulity at the sight of Mohamed Salah failing to convert a penalty just before the break. The Egyptian attacker, who had scored 10 successive spot kicks for Liverpool since missing against Real Madrid in November 2024, was furious with himself. He had got it horribly wrong — clipping the ball so tamely down the middle that the Galatasaray goalkeeper, Ugurcan Cakir, who had dived to his left, was able to use his right boot to hook it away. …”
Scissors Kick 