The Whole Delivery

Patrice Evra sent everyone on shock notice and Bayern in worry with his tremendous strike.  But 70 secs later, he feel asleep real quick and Mandzukic scored. And the rest was history.  Meanwhile, as I thought below, Atletico have advanced despite hitting the woodwork three times and leaving other chances to the ground.  It just wasn't Messi's night, as he had a snap header go wide as his only true chance that was a must score from him.  Courtois amazing and Xavi couldn't finish that wild scramble in the second half to put Barcelona out and Tata Martino under major pressure.  The Team of the Week:  The @ChampionsLeague Team of the Week- Courtois; Evra, Cahill, Godin, JuanFran; Raul Garcia, Jojic; Reus, Kroos, Koke; Demba Ba — Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) April 9, 2014 What a remarkable week of Champions League quarterfinals' finales for another season. The two big Madrid clubs, Jose Mourinho, and Pep Guardi...

Full Time (Manchester City 0-2 Barcelona; Bayer Leverkusen 0-4 PSG)  Dani Alves late tally gives Barcelona a major advantage going into leg two, but City still had their chances despite down 10 men.  This tie is still alive but City will need to be their best in attack at the Nou Camp to advance now, and that was before the right back's tally.  Meanwhile, it is unquestionable for Bayer, as they were thrashed at home again for a second time against Zlatan and company, who did it without Edison Cavani.  Still, despite another great display, thoughts of PSG being right next to Bayern and maybe a mix of Barcelona, Madrid, and Chelsea as the prime favorites needs to be slightly scaled back. For Manchester United did one better than them in Leverkusen with that 5-0 pasting that certainly echoed tonight for Bayer manager Sami Hyypia.   (Will be back tomorrow for more Leg 1 action on Matchday 14 of the Champions League.)  Halftime Revi...

Full Time: Atletico Madrid 0-0 Barcelona  Stalemate official . Great tactical duel even if the game didn't have the quality to match the intensity. Still, much to be decided in La Liga BBVA, where Real Madrid fans will be happy that the two teams they hate the most have to settle for a draw.  Halftime Version  Stalemate as expected at the half as Martino and his team looked tentative in the beginning portions of that first half, as Atletico dominated. Busquets was ineffective as Tiago was having the better half in that key holding midfield battle, as well as JuanFran doing well on the flanks. Atletico had the best chance of the half but Costa put the set piece wide. But Barcelona will go into the break with the momentum as they got into their rhythm in the first half as both Costa and especially Arda Turan became non existent. Pedro is active in the right spots and Iniesta is Iniesta as usual.  With the control of the game for now, who will ...

Photo from Getty Images and UEFA.com With the whole soccer/football world up in shock when the news broke or while they witnessed it happen right away, it seems from preliminary reports that Lionel Messi may have suffered just a knock this evening at the Nou Camp against Benfica tonight. The only thing in jeopardy is not a season ending injury for the Argentine legend, but a chance to break Gerd Mueller most goals in a single calendar year record. He was just one behind the German figure coming into the day (85-84), but being stretched off seems to put him in jeopardy of playing in Barcelona's final five matches of the year. As you can see up above, three matches in La Liga BBVA, while the other two are the tie versus Cordoba in the Copa del Rey Round of 16. Messi is just realistically one match from breaking the record, and tonight was suppose to be that night. It still could easily happen, but that's only if he is healthy enough for any of them. But for Ba...

Enjoy the spectacle, and can't believe Messi just missed from a sitter like that.

It hasn't even been two full matchday weekends in La Liga BBVA, and already the Shock of the entire season has already occurred. Newly promoted side Hercules has defeated mighty Barcelona at the Camp Nou of all places by the jaw dropping scoreline of Hercules 2, Barcelona 0. Nelson Valdez scored both of Hercules improbable goals to stun a Barcelona side who looked flat from all the international play most of their roster participated in over the last week. Barcelona have traditionally struggled after their players comeback from playing for their country, but no one saw this result coming. No one, except, maybe the heavens above.

Live feeds of the domination of Barca-Real in their matches in the Barca-Real league. It seems Barcelona will wrap up the title, as they are up 2-0 already on a dangerous Sevilla side. And they have made it look easy Watch live video from VIP TV on Justin.tv Meanwhile Real Madrid can only just focus on them, and they are doing that with a 1-0 on Bilbao: Watch live video from cholillo_830 on Justin.tv

Wesley Snejder celebrates as Inter place Barcelona's chances of repeating in serious trouble(Photo from Getty Images) What a result. After going behind on Pedro's 19th minute deft finish, Inter Milan has responded emphatically by winning 3-1 over Barcelona in their first leg at the San Siro. It was terrific performances, as goals from Wesley Snejder, Maicon, and Diego Milito place Jose Mourinho one step away from adding to his legacy. Full review to come.

Photo from Getty Images' Dennis Doyle I don't even think all the armies in the world could stop Barcelona, as the Catalyan giants continued their rise to a historic dynasty by defeating Real Madrid at the Bernabeu 2-0 behind goals from Lionel Messi in the 33rd (who else?) and Pedro Rodriguez in the 56th minute. It really did seem this time that Real missed the presence of Kaka' in this all crucial virtual league decider, as there was not a clear cut chance at all in this game for Cristiano Ronaldo and company, while Pep Guardiola's side exhibited the class that make them the best in the world by a long long mile at the moment. Xavi was outstanding in this contest, as Barcelona didn't miss Zlatan Ibrahamovoic and Andres Iniesta (until he was substituted later in the game) unlike Madrid's deficiency without Kaka. And the defending champions in five competitions last season sure look poise to add to their massive mantle, as they are surly the clear favorites ye...

Photo form Getty Images It's a cruel day for Aston Villa, as despite arguably being the better team for most of the day, they have come up second fiddle. Chelsea has advanced to the Final of the FA Cup over the Birmingham side 3-0. Second half goals form Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, and Frank Lampard sent the Blues running into the Wembley May 15 final, while Martin O'Neil's side will feel aggrieved by losing on the same field of their Carling Cup defeat to Manchester United. Villa were by far the better team in the first half, but were denied a penalty when Gabby Agbonlahor was taken down in the box. However, as the second half progressed, it seemed Aston Villa were getting tired, and Chelsea started to sneak more forward. In the crucial turning point in match, the otherwise defensively sound Richard Dunne's poor clearance was directed to John Terry, as the centerback delivered it to Drogba for the opening tally in the 68th minute. From there, Chelsea nev...

Only five letters can describe this night: M......E..........S............S...................I Only those five, as "The Lionel Messi Club", I mean, Barcelona, handled a game but overmatched Arsenal side 4-1 on the night and 6-3 on aggregate to advance to the semifinals against Inter Milan. And it was due to the world's best player probably adding the most glorious performance to an already growing legacy of a legend. At the beginning though, Arsenal had made everyone nervous at the Nou Camp from the outset, as Nicholas Bendtner put Arsenal up across all score boards with his 18 minute rebound tap. Whistles called for offsides on Theo Walcott who set up Bendtner, but the fans were left to wonder if this would be the night where the magic of Pep Guardiola and Messi would finally not work tonight. 3 minutes latter, they need not worry any longer. Thanks to poor defending by Arsenal, a defelected shot feel to Messi, as the Argentine wunderkid scorched a left shot pa...

The soldering spirit of Cesc Fabregas was evident for all to see (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) Well it had the makings of a classic. And after 90 minutes, it was just that. Maybe even better news is the fact that another classic could be in store 6 days time. After seemingly looking out of this comepetition, Arsenal have somehow managed to show adversity once more this year and finish 2-2 with Barcelona at the Emirates. It truly exemplified a contest with major plot twists and ever changing climaxes. Thanks to the brilliance of Manuel Almunia of all people, the Spanish giants were somehow denied a goal in the first half despite a plethora of clear cut chances. But the much maligned Arsenal goalkeeper couldn't keep his opening 45 minute level up, as he came off his line too far and was caught by a cheeky chip from Zlatan Ibrahomovic to make it 1-0 Barcelona. And Ibrahamovic wasn't done, as he continued his party of finally scoring against an English team for t...

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's 56th minute volley off great work from the offensively minded fullback Dani Alves has placed Barcelona back on top of La Liga in their El Classico first derby with Real Madrid this year. Both teams ended with 10 men, as Sergi Busquets was sent off of in the 63rd minute, while Lassana Diarra left the pitch in stoppage time. Madrid had their chances and probably should have come out with nothing short of a tie. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were denied by Victor Valdes and Iker Castillas respectively, though they arguably should have scored with the chances they had. At day's end, once again, Barcelona own Madrid on the final scoreline. But with the standings so tight between these two, the title in La Liga will go down to the wire. And the second meeting in the Spanish's capital later this season could be even more massive.

It was really the night of the little sides tonight in the Champions league. Boy, was it ever. It wasn't a goodnight at all for British sides, as Arsenal get the only points of the night for the country, a 1-1 tie with Dutch champs AZ Alkmaar . The beatdown of the round again involved Rangers. And they were the ones getting beat down again........at HOME. It's over for them most likely to advance to the knockout stages, as first team CL performer Unirea Urzicieni dominate Rangers at Ibrox 4-1 just like Sevilla did last time. Two own goals given up by Rangers spells total disaster for their side, and oculd send them out of Europe all together. Lyon seemed to have performed the shock of the night, beating Liverpool at Anfield from 1-0 down in a 2-1 end result. More misery and fire for Rafa Bentiez to go through tonight. But out of nowhere, Russian champs Rubiz Kazan proved how formidable they are by producing maybe the shock of the entire footballing year, going to Barcelona and...

Photo from ESPN Soccernet It is the matchup that everyone was hoping for in Europe and throughout the rest of the world. The best team from England against the best team from Spain. The champions of the world looking to become the first team to repeat as conquerors of the continent against the team many have thought to be the best team in the world all year long. And both teams looking to win a historic treble of titles in this calendar year. Ferguson, Guardiola, Ronaldo, Messi, Rooney, Eto, Ferdinand, Puyol, Xavi, Gibbs. The UEFA Champions League final is always a special event, and it is mighty difficult to top the hype of last year's final featuring united and Chelsea. Unless the opponent's for the Red Devil's side this year is the Catalan giants. Going into the game, with Barcelona missing 75% of its starting defense, most are expecting United to be too strong with their tremendous depth (when you have the option of leaving the likes of Carlos Tevez, Dimitar Berbatov, o...