Barcelona look to stay top after morale boosting comeback, multiple Americans impressingĀ in Germany and Juventus finally stumble.
La Liga
Barcelona have won six straight La Liga matches and sit atop the league table with a one point lead over Real Madrid. Barca have scored 17 goals over their last three matches in all competitions. All they did on Wednesday was complete the biggest comeback in Champions League knockout round history by beating PSG 6-1 in the second leg, advancing with a 6-5 score on aggregate. Hereās Sergi Robertoās winner, scored in the final minute of stoppage time:
It was one of the craziest soccer matches I have ever seen. To say Barcelona are flying high at the moment is a giant understatement. You have to feel sorry for Deportivo La Coruna, who Barca visit on Sunday.
Real Madrid finished off their Champions League round of 16 tie with slightly less drama, beating a feisty Napoli 6-2 on aggregate. Real Madrid wonāt feel too bad about their second place position in La Liga as they still possess a game in hand, but they have struggled as of late. TheyĀ drew with Las Palmas on March 1 and lost to Villarreal back on Feb. 26.
If the last two games are any indication, however, Real Madrid may be finding their swagger again. In addition to the win over Napoli, they beat Eibar 4-1 in their last La Liga match. And that was without Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in the lineup. Real with feel confident of securing three more points Sunday as they play host to 14th-place Real Betis.
Third-place Sevilla, unbeaten in their last six league matches, seem the only likely candidate to bust up the Real-Barca logjam at the top of the La Liga table. They trail Real Madrid by just three points while holding a seven point lead over fourth-place Atletico Madrid. Sevilla also currently enjoy a 2-1 advantage over Leicester in their round of 16 Champions League tie. They travel to England for the second leg on March 15. This Saturday, in league play, they will host 16th-place Leganes.
Bundesliga
Here are the facts: leaders Bayern Munich are still going strong in the league as they beat Cologne 3-0 last weekend to go seven points clear at the topĀ of the Bundesliga table after second-place RB Leipzig drew with Augsburg. Bayern also completely embarrassed Arsenal in the Champions League round of 16, winning 10-2 on aggregate. They face slumping Frankfurt (sixth place) at home while Leipzig host Wolfsburg (15th place).
Now, for the exciting stuff: American players are in fine form for their German clubs. Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund are inching their way towards second place, trailing RB Leipzig by six points after demolishing Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 on Saturday. Pulisic came of the bench and scored a goal in the 77th minute. The 18-year-old then received the start in Dortmundās Champions League round of 16 second legĀ against Benfica.
With his team trailing 1-0 on aggregate, Pulisic was spectacular, assisting on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyangās opener before scoring his first ever Champions League goal in the 59th minute with a beautiful chip. Not bad for a teenager from Hershey, PA. BVB would go on to win the tie 4-1 on aggregate, advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals. Dortmund travel to Hertha Berlin this Saturday.
Ninth-place Borussia Monchengladbach have now won five of their last six league matches and are only three points away from sixth place. USA international Fabian Johnson put in an EA Sports Team of the Week performance for Gladbach, scoring a brace as his side beat Schalke 4-2. BMG travel to Hamburg on Sunday. Bruce Arena better not even consider for one second putting Johnson at left back for the USMNT. Hereās his first goal from Saturday:
https://twitter.com/si_soccer/status/838102196956823554
Finally, it was Yank vs. Yank as Bobby Woodās Hamburg got a huge 1-0 win over John Brooksā Hertha Berlin on Sunday. Both USMNT members played the full 90 minutes. The win is an important step in avoiding relegation for 16th-place Hamburg, who are now level on points with 15th-place Wolfsburg and are only four points behind 13th-place Schalke. Wood is rumored to be drawing interest from Premier League clubs, but HamburgĀ are keen to hold onto the efficient striker.
Serie A
Leaders Juventus saw their winning streak finally come to an end on Sunday as they drew away to 14th-place Udinese 1-1. They still hold an eight-point lead over second-place Roma, who lost on the weekend to Napoli (third in Serie A). Juve will host seventh-place AC Milan, winners of their last three league matches, on Friday. Napoli will try to close the two-point gap between themselves and second place on Saturday as they host 19th-place Cortone. Roma also have a favorable matchup on Saturday as they travel to 18th-place Palermo.
Juve appear to be positioning themselves to benefit from the dumpster fire that is Arsenal Football Club. One paper in Italy is claiming the Serie A leaders have already made contact with the north London club about purchasing out-of-favor Alexis Sanchez. Both Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have, so far, declined to sign new contracts with Arsenal, leaving many clubs around Europe vyingĀ for their services. Is there any way Arsene Wenger manages to survive this mess?
Next: This week in US Soccer: USSF anthem policy
Bonus Goal
My favorite goals of the week were scored by Fab and Pulisic ā because Iām very unbiased ā but those can be seen above. How about a look at Neymarās pinpointĀ free-kick duringĀ that insane comeback against PSG?
It wasnāt a bad week for goals in Europe. Letās hope for another crazy round of matches.