March Madness is in full swing across the United States, and this midweek’s Top Five is joining in the party.
This week in the wide world of soccer was very much like the exciting NCAA tournament: full of uspets, back-and-forth action, and great players rising to the occasion.
Unwind from all the college basketball action with the latest edition of 90 Minutes’ Top Five.
1. Old Trafford conquered
So much for all the praise laid upon Jose Mourinho and Manchester United after the Liverpool win…
Laying the most gigantic of eggs, the Red Devils were unceremoniously upset by Sevilla at Old Trafford, 2-1, getting eliminated from the Champions League they so desired a year ago after winning the Europa League.
But beyond the mere result of the game, it is the way they lost to a team -quite frankly- they should have beat without too much hardship that raised the ire of supporters and pundits alike.
The 0-0 from the first leg forced United to go out and score from the get go, with the threat of a Sevilla away goal looming. Not only did Mourinho choose to stick to his retreat-and-counter strategy which took away their attacking threat, but the allowed Sevilla the ball and the space, which did nothing but give the visitors confidence.
As a result of that came the two goals by the new Sevilla hero, Wissam Ben Yedder, and only then, with their backs against the wall, did Mourinho’s team actually move up the pitch and look to dominate. It did result in Romelu Lukaku’s late goal, but it was too little, too late.
It is one thing for Mourinho to take this approach against Liverpool, known for its weak transition defense. It is another very different thing to do so when you need to do just the opposite.
Credit to Sevilla for owning the moment despite their history in the competition, and their underdog status. But it is on Jose Mourinho and Manchester United that the game, and their European dreams, ended like this.
2. God save the king
Their words, not ours.
And by they, we mean the tifo created (pictured above) by the Camp Nou faithful ahead of what turned out to be another night to remember from Lionel Messi.
The Argentinian set up the party, was the life of the party, and ended the party on Wednesday, scoring two goals and assisting on another in Barcelona’s 3-1 win over Chelsea.
What else could be possibly said about Messi at this stage of his career? He showed, once again, why he is one of the all-time greatest. He recognized the moment -a high-risk situation knowing what Chelsea have done in the past in that very stadium- and absolutely owned it.
He single-handedly spoiled whatever Antonio Conte had planned for the night with his first goal just second into the match, a goal that he set up and finished through Thibaut Courtois’ legs.
Later, he was responsible for stealing the ball from Marcos Alonso, transporting it to the opposite end, and setting up Ousmane Dembele’s goal.
And to put a cherry on this delicious cake of soccer greatness, he gave Courtois another dose of nutmegs, to finish off another masterpiece by this modern-day Michaelangelo of world soccer.
More Top Picks Air Purifiers
Yes, Courtois had a rough night, and he has been getting it on social media. But Messi was unstoppable, and there was nothing Courtois’ -or anyone- could do it about it.
3. Survive and advance
Such is the motto for the teams in the NCAA tournament, and that’s exactly what several teams did in the Champions League and Europa League this midweek.
It very un-Roma-like fashion, Roma came through in the clutch, overcoming a 2-1 deficit to upend Shakhtar Donetsk at the Stadio Olimpico to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Along with them come Bayern Munich, who took care of business that had been taken care of in the first leg against Besiktas, defeating the Turkish side in Istanbul, 3-1, just for good measure.
Over in the Europa League, Arsenal held off AC Milan at the Emirates in the most Arsenal way: with controversy and going down on the scoreboard early.
The controversy stems from a penalty call against AC Milan, which allowed Danny Welbeck to equalize shortly after Hakan Calhanoglou’s beauty. Arsene Wenger’s dreams of Champions League live on for another round.
Elsewhere, Red Bull Salzburg finished the upset job they started at the Signal Iduna Park, holding Borussia Dortmund to a scoreless draw in Salzburg, and eliminating the Germans from contention.
Also, Lazio earned a tough 2-0 victory in Ukraine over Dynamo Kiev to advance, as did Sporting CP, which needed extra time against Viktoria Plzen, RB Leipzig after escaping St. Petersburg with a 1-1 draw, CSKA Moscow following a wild 3-2 away victory at Lyon, Marseille, who finished off Athletic Bilbao in Spain, and Atletico Madrid, which throttled Lokomotiv Moscow in Russian territory, 5-1.
4. Border wars
The long-awaited rematch of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals left us with a very tasty extension to the already-hot MLS-Liga MX clash.
For those scoring at home, Major League Soccer came away with the victory in this “battle,” though they did not go unscathed.
In the most impressive of the three displays, Toronto FC slayed the Monterrey beast that is Tigres at their stadium and advanced to the semifinals in the champion vs. champion special, despite losing 3-2.
Greg Vanney’s men not only managed the pressure and adversity of the moment, but thrived in it with poise and personality, scoring the two away goals that made the difference, including an absolute screamer by Sebastian Giovinco (coming up later in this piece).
Earlier in the day, New York Red Bulls finished off their own impressive job started over near the border, upending Tijuana, 3-1, at Red Bulls Arena. It was not all easy peasy for the team led by Jesse Marsch, as they went down 0-1 early on, raising the collective blood pressure of those present at the stadium in Harrison.
Unfortunately, the rampant success of the MLS contingents did not carry over to Wednesday night. Despite holding a 1-0 advantage, Seattle Sounders could not survive their visit to Guadalajara, getting throttled by Chivas, 3-0. There really was not much Seattle could do, however, after losing both Chad Marshall and Will Bruin before the end of the half, and suffering the absence of Nicolas Lodeiro.
And suffer they did.
Now the border war continues with two perfectly-set-up semifinal ties pitting Liga MX and MLS clubs: a very interesting Chivas-Red Bulls tie, with a delicious high-profile Toronto FC-Club America to top.
5. Goal of the week
We teased Sebastian Giovinco’s glorious goal in Monterrey against Tigres earlier on, and you don’t have to wait any longer.
Here is free kick master extraordinaire Giovinco doing what he does best: curling beamer, upper 90, into the net.
Masterpiece of champions.