Another year, another champion to be chosen in Europe as UEFA round of 16 begun on the 12th of February. First leg was just concluded and these are the highlights:
Match day 1:
Roma had the home advantage in their first leg against FC Porto. It was not exactly a home dominated match as both teams played well. The first half was over without no goals but the young Roman player, Zaniolo won the game for Roma with a brace. Though Porto got a consolation goal, Roma went home with the win.
Meanwhile at Old Trafford that night, Paris Saint-Germain faced Manchester United without their top two forwards Neymar and Cavani. The first half ended with no goals and could be said to be anyone’s game. But the half did not end well for united as their wingers Lingard and Martial took a knock and had to be excused for the rest of the match. With an unexpected turn of events the French put up a scintillating game at the second half and won the game 2-0 and the Manchester midfielder, Pogba received a red card after a brutal challenge and would definitely be unavailable to help his team in the second leg.
Match day 2 :
Ajax hosted the defending champions, Real Madrid the next day. The Dutch played an impressive game that night but had problem finding the back of the net. The Galaticos opened the game in second half as Benzema sent one flying in. Ajax replied with a goal 15 minutes later but could not stop Madrid from winning the match as Asensio scored the last goal, ending the match at 2-1.
On the fields of Wembley, Dortmund faced injury-riddled Tottenham in a game with no clear underdogs. Just as other games, the first half recorded no goals as both teams tried the opponents goal keeper but could not get the back of the net. However, the game got a lot more interesting in the second half as Son opened the scoreboard and Vertonghen increased the lead to a 2-0. Clearly, the home side had not had enough as they scored a late third goal to kill the Germans’ dream of coming back in the second leg.
Match day 3 :
Liverpool played Bayern at Anfield and Barcelona played Lyon at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais. The two games turned to a huge disappointment to both fans and football lovers as both games ended 0-0. Though a lot of chances were created and goals attempts were made, Tuesday night ended with no goals.
Match day 4 :
Athletico madrid hosted Juventus on Wednesday night. Both teams brought their bests to the table but Athletico won the game 2-0 with late second half goals by Gimenez and Godin. L
City played Schalke 04 at the Arena Aufscalke. Aguero scored first for city at 18 minutes (first first-half goal in UEFA this year) but the visitors scored two goals in the first half from two penalties gotten. City had to continue the game later on with ten men as Otamendi received a second yellow and was sent out. But the game ended 3-2 in city’s favour as Sane and Sterling found the back of the net to give the visitors tonights win.
BY UCHENNA NNAMANI