Tensions Run High as Real Madrid Win 10th European Championship

 

Real Madrid secured their 10th European Championship as they top Atletico Madrid 4-1 after extra time.  The final, which took place in Lisbon, ended with Real winning after scoring three goals in extra time.

Champions League Final Preview

 

After a grueling Champions League campaign, the finals are now set.  For the first time in tournament history, the two teams featured in Lisbon will be from the same city.  Real Madrid will take on cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid as both teams strive to be crowned Champions of Europe.

Champions League Semifinals Set After Exciting Quarterfinal Finishes

 

The cup draw has been decided for the UEFA Champions League Semifinals after an exciting wrap up to the Quarterfinals on Wednesday.  The Champions League Quarterfinals did not disappoint and showed the true nature of the how unexpected the Champions League is!  After the second leg of the cup tie was decided, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Bayern Munich are now in a very heated competition as all strive to be crowned Champions of Europe.

Champions League Quarter-final Preview

After Friday's Champions League Quarter-finals cup draw, all the matches are bound to be very exciting!  As with most stages of the competition, the match-ups were selected by random draw, and are sure to be some entertaining.  With only eight teams left across Europe, the intensity will surely be high as all the teams strive to reach the Semi-finals.  Below are some match predictions for both legs of the match-ups.

First Radio Episode

 

Be sure to listen to the first episode of NP Soccer Talk on Blog Talk Radio.  The archive of today's show can be found at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/npsoccertalk/2014/02/27/champions-league-first-leg-recap-march-1st-league-match-preview.   Today's show covered Champions League Round of 16, Manchester United, David Moyes, and fixtures from around the world this weekend.  Games highlighted included the Madrid Derby, Manchester Derby, Bayern Munich vs. Schalke and many more!

Manchester United: The Troubles Continue

 

Problems continued for Manchester United today as they traveled to Greece for the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 match-up against Olympiakos.  The English side fell 2-0 to the Greek giants in what was expected to be a guaranteed win with both Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney returning to the lineup together.  The Red Devils have seldom lost when the pair have started together, however that trend did not continue today.  Today's loss was Manchester United's first loss of the 2013-2014 Champions League campaign.

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.