As the NFL offseason wallows in the ugly business side of sport, real life competition continued across Europe as the world’s most exclusive club tournament wrapped up the first leg of the round of 16 competition on Wednesday. Highlights included manager Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan team defeating his former Chelsea squad in Italy by a 2-1 margin. First fixture surprises were provided by Portuguese side FC Porto’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal and Manchester United’s 3 valuable away goals at AC Milan. Man U had never scored at the San Siro in 4 matches, although 1 goal came off Darren Scholes’ laughable swing and miss.
Besides Man U, France’s Bordeux was the only other away side winner, setting themselves up for the next round if they can draw or win at home in the 2nd leg. Several remaining matches could be decided on the tournament’s intriguing ‘away goals’ tiebreaker rule, which entices and rewards the visiting side for aggressive play. All visitors with the exception of Spain’s Real Madrid scored an important road goal.
The return legs of the competition will be played on March 09-10 and 16-17. Adopt a team (not Chelsea, don’t be that guy) and catch a game, it’s not a bad way to spend the lunch hour, especially if you’re lucky enough to catch a visiting European hottie supporting her team.
(Sorry about the picture of the hot Italy fan, I couldn’t find a girl in club team’s gear. Post one in the comment section if you find a good one I won’t mind. – JO)
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such a great whiff! i didn’t catch it in regular speed but the replay is classic!