First Post-First week of Champions League Final 16

In my first post I would like to take the time to talk about the four Champions league games that happened this week.  Tuesday's games were somewhat less contentious than those that were played on Wednesday.  Most Manchester City fans would probably disagree with this statement after the red card and penalty resulting from Martin Demichelis's slide tackle on Lionel Messi.  While the red card was undeniable, the penalty call is still drawing much attention.  The tackle was on the edge of the 18 yard box, but personally I don't believe the tackle occurred in the area, but the only opinion that did matter was that of the referee.  Messi's hit from 12 yards set the two sides apart and Barcelona were able to expand their lead going into the second half of the cup tie with a late goal by Dani Alvez.



To almost no one's surprise the matchup between PSG and Bayer Leverkusen ended up as the Zlatan Ibrahimovic show.  Ibra scored two of PSG's four (one from the penalty spot, and the other in classic Ibrahimovic style with a screamer in the upper 90 past the reach of Bayer keeper Leno).  Another highlight of the game was Yohan Cabaye's first goal in a PSG uniform.  Cabaye joined PSG less than a month ago from Newcastle and has already earned his first goal for his new side.

One of the most contentious Champions League games of this week was the match in London between Arsenal and Bayern Munich.  Arsenal's fate was essentially sealed after a late first half sending off of starting keeper Wojciech Szczesny.  Many have criticized this sending off and have said that the ref should not have gone straight for red.  However, the fact is that the Gunners' stopper made a play on the man (Arjen Robben) and not on the ball.  Though the resulting PK was missed, Bayern were able to score two second half goals to set the sides apart before the second leg which will be played on March 11th in Germany.

The final match of this week was probably the least talked about. Atlético Madrid edged out AC Milan with a 1-0 win from a very late Diego Costa goal.  In the match up that was deemed the showdown between Mario Balotelli and Diego Costa, Costa prevailed.  The goal came in the 83rd minute off a corner kick. It was first hit by a Milan defender who was unable to clear the ball, which ultimately fell right to the head of Costa who easily headed it past the Milan keeper.