My 3 Thoughts on a Wild Day in the Men's UEFA Champions League
My 3 Thoughts on a Wild Day in the Men's UEFA Champions League
Two Dramatic Games See Real Madrid and Villarreal Advance to the Semis
On a crazy day in the men’s UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid eliminated Chelsea and Villarreal took out Bayern Munich to reach the semifinals. Here are my three thoughts on the day:
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• Real Madrid is just a class above in the Champions League. Just when you thought Chelsea had done something incredible, erasing a two-goal deficit to go ahead of Real Madrid on Timo Werner’s 75th-minute strike in the Bernabéu, Real Madrid showed off that ineffable thing it does in the games that matter most, that thing it showed off to defeat PSG in the last round. Luka Modric (he’s 36!) hit one of the most remarkable big-game assists you’ll ever see, with the outside of his boot, on Rodrygo’s leveler five minutes later, and Karim Benzema (he’s 34!) headed home the decider in extra-time (after Antonio Rudiger had slipped) to win it for Los Merengues. American Christian Pulisic had two scoring chances late in regulation but couldn’t convert, and Chelsea will wonder how it let a fantastic comeback slip away. In Pulisic’s defense, I would argue that this game should be talked about more for what Real Madrid did to win than what Chelsea did to lose. It was the kind of winning-time-type stuff that, while it may not happen every year for Real Madrid, has taken place with jaw-dropping regularity during the history of this competition.
• Villarreal knocked off Bayern Munich by frustrating them and striking on the counter. On a huge day for La Liga, Unai Emery’s Villarreal booted Bayern Munich from the tournament, and the simple fact is the Yellow Submarine deserved to advance. Coming into the game with a one-goal advantage, Villarreal made life difficult for Bayern at the Allianz Arena throughout thanks to a solid gameplan. And even after Robert Lewandowski leveled things with a second-half goal, Bayern managed to dominate possession without moving in for the kill. Thomas Müller missed on a golden-chance header late, and Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze finished well on a dazzlingly-executed counter-attack in the 88th minute to send a stunned Bayern out of the tournament. Should we really be that surprised by Villarreal, though? This is the club that “surprised” Manchester United in the Europa League final last season and “surprised” Juventus in the last round of the Champions League. In cup competitions, led by a phenomenal coach, they’re the real deal.
• Let’s not mess with the Champions League format, shall we? Every single year the knockout rounds of this tournament produce theater of the highest order, and this season has been no different. We keep hearing people like PSG chair Nasser el-Khelaifi say that the Champions League needs to be more like the Super Bowl, but why? I’d take the drama of Champions League knockouts over the more regular non-drama and corporate crowds of the Super Bowl any day of the week. I do understand that the new “Swiss Model” Champions League format will still produce a Round of 16 like the one we have now, but the much-longer process to get there and the allowance for teams that haven’t earned qualifying spots to still get in seems like a major downgrade from the current system (which, to be honest, has a fairly boring group stage as it is). What we saw today was phenomenal. Let’s not make things worse.
What are your thoughts on the games? You can join the discussion in the comments below.
Some will say Pulisic could/should have scored two goals, I say he was unlucky on both but was there because he knows how to score. His general play was excellent.
How do today's results influence people's thinking about league comparisons? I'd been thinking La Liga was in down period, but the results today make me question that view. La Liga hasn't won a champions league in a couple years now, but at least 2/4 semi finalists isn't bad, and Barça are looking better and could keep the Europa cup in Spain.