We start off the week with a look back at UEFA Champions League matches. Paris St Germain went out and put on a show against the "Chosen One" and the "Blues" of Chelsea. Although an injury occurred to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the French capitol side made the most of the first leg. The final score 3-1 which showed how deep the PSG roster is. Chelsea will have some work to do next week when the second leg is played at Stamford Bridge.
Wednesday also had German side Borussia Dortmund take the trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on Real Madrid. With the handful of injuries and the dominance of Real as of late, the "Black and Yellows" had no chance. Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Isco would score to make the final 3-0. A huge advantage for Madrid to take to the Signal Iduna Park in Borussia.
A La Liga based showdown on Tuesday took place at the Camp Nou between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. The scoring opened in the 55th minute when Diego Costa scored for Atleti. Costa wouldn't make it the full 90 minutes. He picked up an injury which could be costly on the return leg in Madrid. For the Barcelona side, their goal came in the 70th minute from the Brazilian Neymar. An injury will make a difference for Barcelona as well as defensive center back Gerard Pique fractured a bone and will be unable to be part of the second leg as well. This match would end 1-1.
The final Champions League game on Tuesday took place on a grand stage in Manchester at Old Trafford. A game that many said Bayern would stomp on Manchester United and though possession showed 75% to 25% in favor of Bayern, the game was very close. The first goal was scored by Manchester United's Center back Nemanja Vidic off of a corner kick. Vidic's redirection header came in the 58th minute. A little less than 10 minutes later midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger would answer with a great goal for Bayern. The game would be a draw 1-1 with a return match to Munich where Bayern will be without Schweinsteiger, Martinez, and injured midfielder Thiago Alcantara.
In the newspapers from Europe as well, is the ban from the transfer market for the defending La Liga champs Barcelona. Barcelona have repeatedly breached transfer regulations. The club violated rules on international transfers, as well as registering foreign players. The sanction if kept will keep Barca out of the summer and winter transfer periods. Barcelona's administration will appeal the decision.
The quirky holiday of April Fools day has always been one of pranks and jokes. The NASL defending champions New York Cosmos decided to take a trip to Buffalo Wild Wings in Westbury, New York. Competitive eater Kobayashi dressed up as an employee of the Buffalo Wild Wings staff. The staff found out that the big eater of the Cosmos was Peri Marosevic who was up for the challenge. Kobayashi walked over to the table and began eating "normal" while Marosevic was power eating. About a minute or two in Kobayashi went into competition mode and some of the looks from Marosevic were priceless. At the end after defeating Marosevic 58-18, Kobayashi would take off the staff uniform and reveal the last name on the back of his Cosmos jersey. Peri was a great sport and was in awe with the quickness of the former Hot Dog eating champ.
The final topic took place in Arizona pinning the United States against their rivals Mexico. Bayern Munich II player and 18 year old Julian Green would be making his debut after his one time international switch from Germany to the US. The first half America was head and shoulders better than Mexico. An early goal from Michael Bradley off of a United States corner made it look like a route was coming. Followed by a great set up header from Bradley to Wondolowski for the outer foot goal. At halftime the US looked to be in control against El Tri.
Early in the second half, veteran Rafael Marquez would bring the deficit back to one with a header off of a corner kick. Then came the goal that tied the game for Mexico by Alan Pulido. I believe the refereeing crew missed a few calls including disallowing the goal by Eddie Johnson for offsides. The other missed call was the foul on first time American player Julian Green just outside the box. A final score of 2-2 will definitely give US coach Jurgen Klinsmann lots to think about before the clash in Brazil 10 weeks from now against Ghana. The United States need to put together a 90 minute team if they want to compete with "perennial powerhouses" of the World Cup.
-Justin Zydor
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