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The Euro Preview: Real Madrid and Bayern Munich falter, Juventus on fire

By Michael Harshbarger

PORTO, PORTUGAL - FEBRUARY 22: Dani Alves of Juventus (L) celebrates scoring the second goal to make the score 0-2 with Marko Pjaca during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg match between FC Porto and Juventus at Estadio do Dragao on February 22, 2017 in Porto, Portugal. (Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images)
PORTO, PORTUGAL - FEBRUARY 22: Dani Alves of Juventus (L) celebrates scoring the second goal to make the score 0-2 with Marko Pjaca during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg match between FC Porto and Juventus at Estadio do Dragao on February 22, 2017 in Porto, Portugal. (Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images) /
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Real Madrid lose and Bayern Munich draw while Juventus remain nigh unbeatable. Also, is the next Lionel Messi already in the Barcelona system?

La Liga

Well, that was unexpected.

Real Madrid finally made up one of their games in hand against 14th-place Valencia on Wednesday. They suffered a shocking 2-1 loss. Real gave up two goals in the first 10 minutes, including this ridiculous spinning volley from Simone Zaza:

Cristiano Ronaldo would pull one back just before halftime, but Real Madrid could not find the equalizer in the second half. And with that, they missed their chance to extend their lead over Barcelona to four points. Instead, they sit one point clear with one game in hand. Real will travel to sixth-place Villarreal, who haven’t lost in four straight league matches, on Sunday. Will they commit another misstep and allow Barca to overtake them?

Barcelona recovered from their Champions League spanking at the hands of PSG enough to defeat lowly Leganes, 2-1, at Camp Nou on Sunday. But even that proved difficult as Lionel Messi had to finish off his second goal of the day from the penalty spot in the 90th minute to seal the three points.

On top of the on-field struggles, Barca have to deal with legal issues away from the pitch: appeals by the club, Neymar, and his former club, Santos, were denied, meaning all will have to stand trial for alleged corruption during the player’s transfer to Camp Nou in 2013. Barcelona will visit a fourth-place Atletico Madrid side that have won their last three La Liga matches, and four of their last six.

Third-place Sevilla appeared to have their Champions League tie against Leicester City wrapped up before Jamie Vardy bagged a late, and very valuable, away goal for the Foxes. It was still a nice win for a club that has been playing well regardless of the competition. Sevilla have won four of their last six league matches and travel to 15th-place Real Betis, where they will expect to come away with three points.

Bundesliga

Leaders Bayern Munich narrowly avoided their second league loss of the season Saturday, drawing away to Hertha Berlin 1-1 thanks to a 96th minute (!) equalizer from Mr. Always Scoring Goals, er, Robert Lewandowski. Even coupling the draw with RB Leipzig’s return to winning — they had lost their previous two Bundesliga matches — Bayern still sit five points clear at the top of the table.

This Saturday, they play host to an improving Hamburg, who drew on the weekend but had won their previous two league matches. Unfortunately, American striker Bobby Wood was injured in warm ups before Hamburg’s match last Saturday. He’s listed as day-to-day and may be fit for the clash with Bayern Munich.

As mentioned above, Leipzig won for the first time in three league games this past Sunday, knocking of 11th-place Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 on the road. USMNT member Fabian Johnson started for Gladbach and was subbed off after 80 minutes. Seventh-place Cologne will pay them a visit on Saturday.

Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim each have 37 Bundesliga points. BVB are currently in third due to a three goal lead in goal difference. They’re coming off an impressive 3-0 beatdown of Wolfsburg last Saturday. Christian Pulisic was subbed on in the 67th minute. Dortmund will visit ninth-place SC Freiburg on Saturday. Hoffenheim will follow up their 2-0 win over last-place Darmstadt last weekend by visiting 10th-place Schalke on Sunday.

Serie A

Leaders Juventus may be the hottest team in Europe at the moment. They’ve won their last eight matches across all competitions including their last six Serie A games. Juve beat 10-man Porto in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie, 2-0, thanks to goals from two substitutes. They host 17th-place Empoli, losers of three of their last four league matches, on Saturday.

Second-place Roma, third-place Napoli and fourth-place Inter Milan have all won five of their last six league matches. They’re also all involved in the two most intriguing matches of the weekend: Napoli face fifth-place Atalanta (tied on points with Inter) Saturday, while Roma will travel to Milan to take on Internazionale Sunday. Roma and Napoli desperately need wins to stay in a position to challenge Juventus for the league title.

Next: This week in US Soccer: Yedlin shines

Bonus Goal

Any supremely talented youngsters coming through the Barcelona youth system will have to deal with comparisons to Lionel Messi, the best player on the planet. Many times this will just be hyperbole. With the following goal — scored against BVB in the UEFA Youth League  on Wednesday — 17-year-old Jordi Mboula seems to earn such a lofty comparison. Look at this insanity:

https://twitter.com/br_uk/status/834755112480436225

I feel like I would make this goal worse by trying to describe it, so just go ahead and click play again. And again. And again. Obviously, Mboula has an incredibly long way to go in order to be the next Messi, but plays like this will certainly get the hype train moving.

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