The UEFA Champions League
Play-Offs have just concluded 2 days ago, and today, the draft for the Round of
16 just got announced, with some teams feeling happy, some feeling sad, and
some have already started packing their bags for home. I’m not going to lie:
the Play-Offs were VERY subpar in terms of quality. You may be wondering why
I’m saying this, but given how many incidents and red cards occurred in both
legs, you’ll understand my point of view. With that being said, let’s start off
with our first Play-Off match…
ATALANTA vs. BORRUSIA DORTUMND
First leg: 2-0 for Dortmund
Second leg: 4-1 for Atalanta
Atalanta win 4-3 on Aggregate
Die Borussen just gave up in the second leg. Not to mention, they had their struggles in the first leg, too. Atalanta was just the better team, overall. TOTAL CAPITULATION! NEXT!
JUVENTUS vs. GALATASARAY
First leg: 5-2 for Galatasary
Second leg: 3-2 for Juventus
Galatasaray win 7-5 on Aggregate
Also Juventus fumbled the biggest comeback in its existence, lmfao!
NEWCASTLE vs. QARABAG
First leg: 6-1 for Newcastle
Second leg: 3-2 for Newcastle
Newcastle win 9-3 on Aggregate
Congratulations, Newcastle United! You bullied a team weaker than you. Must feel real good doing that.
INTER vs. BODØ/GLIMT
First leg: 3-1 for Bodø
Second leg: 2-1 for Bodø
Bodø win 5-2 on Aggregate
Football has left Italy. Both Italian teams and the National Squad have been humiliated by Norway’s football. The National Squad got smashed in the qualifiers, while Inter got smashed in the Play-Offs.
Meanwhile, a massive congratulations to Bodø for advancing into the Round of 16. Their entire run in the League Phase has been phenomenal. They easily could’ve made it to Top 8 and not bother with the Play-Offs, but if that didn’t happen, we wouldn’t be witnessing them thrashing Inter like this. So once again, congratulations to the Norwegian side on showing spectacular football over these last two legs!
LEVERKUSEN vs. OLYMPIACOS
First leg: 2-0 for Leverkusen
Second leg: 0-0
Leverkusen win 2-0 on Aggregate
OK? I forgot these games even happened… Um. Leverkusen won the first leg and then both Bayer and Olympiacos fell asleep in the second. GGs to the winners, I suppose.
First leg:3-3
Second leg: 4-1 for Atletico
Atletico win 7-4 on Aggregate
Finally a draw I can actually talk about in some detail. Maybe for only the first leg, but still.
The first leg seemed to be in favour of Atletico, as they started the game with great offence and plenty of chances, thanks to an early penalty goal, scored by Alvarez. In stoppage time, Atleti found themselves 2-0 up with a goal from Lookman. Victory was surely theirs, but two quick goals between the 50th and 60th minute from Brugge, sent the game back to square 1, with the score 2-2. An unlucky own goal from Brugge’s Ordóñez in the 79th minute saw the Belgian club falling behind. Given how they really wanted Simeone’s Madrid to lose the game, they pushed on and in the 89th minute, thanks to Onyedika & Tzolis, the team brought the game to an incredible 3-3 finish. The draw was seen by many as a hope for Brugge to advance and Atleti to get knocked out, because their season so far in both Europe and Spain has been mediocre.
And then the second leg happened. Ffs, Brugge!
PSG vs. MONACO
Another set of matches that were spectacular to watch, and quite bloody as well.
The two French giants have been at each other’s throat since the dawn of time at this point. France’s #1 vs. France’s #2.
In the first leg (and in the second while I’m at it), PSG barely even had control of the game. They didn’t seem confident in their game plan, their attacks nor their defence. They didn’t seem that much interested in playing these matches at all to begin with. It could be because MONACO SCORED TWO IN THE FIRST 18 MINUTES OF THE MATCH, FORCING PSG TO DO SOMETHING!
And something is… Something PSG still didn’t want to do. Missed a penalty, were very lucky with their attempts on goal, Monaco’s lack of focus being another lucky factor, with the red card shown to Golovin in the 48th minute being the biggest that contributed to PSG winning this shambolic match.
Things were the same in the second leg: PSG concede, do fuck all until they scored two, and then concede in stoppage time. And just like the previous leg, Monaco also lost a player to the dreadful red card, this time being Coulibaly, who was shown 2 yellows, unlike his mate Golovin who was shown red instantly (after a VAR check).
The French produced good matches when looking at the stats, but in reality… The matches were played for the sake of it. At least that’s how PSG played them…
REAL MADRID vs. BENFICA
First leg: 1-0 for Real
Second leg: 2-1 for Real
Real wins 3-1 on Aggregate
The most controversial draw of the Play-Offs. Both legs were overshadowed by an incident that happened in the first leg, where Real, through struggle, won 1-0.
Around the 78th minute, Benfica’s forward Prestianni, has been stated to have said something racist towards Madrid’s Vinicius Junior. Upon hearing this, the Real Madrid forward went on to complain to the refs regarding the alleged abuse. A huge scramble and arguing arose from this which resulted in Benfica’s Jose Mourhino (forgot he even is managing them for a moment) to be sent off. Not the first time “The Special One” has been shown red. But this incident, where the officials had to calm the players down and analyse the situation, overshadowed what was otherwise a pretty entertaining match until that point. The accused Prestianni was shown only a yellow, and later UEFA confirmed a 10 match ban following a decision on the situation.
While I can’t say much whether an actual racial slur was used or not, any type of abuse is in no shape or form cool or welcomed. The only way to deal with such issues is to simply use them to make you play better and show the haters how it’s really done. Just look at the Dani Alves incident and how he handled such abuse like a champion. And at the same time, Vinicius is known for provoking people with his attitude when playing or even doing anything, so for him to say he feels like he has a target on his back isn’t for nothing. He wants it to happen. But instead of tackling it in a cool and cheeky way, he goes on to do publicity stunts at best.
Blimey! Round of 16 is shaping up to be a mid time.
All in all… A pretty mediocre Play-Offs set of matches. With the exception of the Norwegians and the Turkish teams stunning expected winners, the rest were not very interesting to watch. I have nothing to say really.
Tune in for Saturday’s February report on the Premier League.
Until tomorrow (or Sunday),
Ѓорѓи „GioGio“ Илиев
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