Barcelona Wins El Clasico

A Score And Assist From Lionel Messi

SANTIAGO BERNABEU – An early Christmas gift from FC Barcelona to their fans as they won 3-0 against the La Liga defending champions, Real Madrid. It is only December but Los Blanco’s hopes of a back-to-back champion may be gone as they lost in the first El Clasico of the season. 

During the first half, both teams have equal chances on scoring and an almost the same possession statistics. Both teams didn’t score as the first half ends. 

Luis Suarez opened the scoring and Sergio Roberto getting the assist. Dani Cavajal was sent off by the referee because of intentionally blocking the ball using his hands in the penalty area. Lionel Messi takes the penalty shot and scored on the 64th minute. Both teams were tired so Zinedine Zidane substituted Gareth Bale in and almost scored after a powerful shot outside the box. The crowd thought that it ends already in a 2-0 score but on the 93rd minute, Aleix Vidal scores after a pass from Leo Messi.

FC Barcelona is still unbeaten in this season with a 45 points and above the table. They are 9 points above the second team, Atletico Madrid. For the first time, Barca has won three straight league matches at Real Madrid. 

Real Madrid’s devastating loss in El Clasico means that they should triple their effort. Next year (2018) will be a challenging year for them because of the fast-approaching UEFA Champions League Round of 16 and the title defense is still on. A miracle is needed for Los Blancos to retain their La Liga crown.

UEFA Champions League: Chelsea Drawn Against Barcelona

One Of The Most Awaited Match In Knockout Stage

The UEFA Champions League knockout stage match-ups were drawn yesterday, December 12, 2017. One of its most awaited matches is Chelsea FC, Premier League’s defending champions will be facing the five-time European champions, FC Barcelona. The two giant teams last met each other last April 2012 when Chelsea won (age 3-2) and advances to the Champions League final and wins the title. This year, Chelsea was given the biggest test as they face the unstoppable Barca. Antonio Conte’s men were given a challenge in this year’s Champions League. Lionel Messi and Barca are expected to have a great match versus Eden Hazard and the Blues. Also, this will be the first time that Pedro Rodriguez will face his former team in the Champions League.

On the other fixture, the reigning champions, Real Madrid CF, will be having a difficult time as they face the Ligue 1’s current top 1, Paris Saint-Germain FC. Real and Zinedine Zidane should come up with a solid defense strategy to stop PSG’s striking trio of Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe. Gareth Bale’s injury means Cristiano Ronaldo’s effort must be doubled but the fans hope that Bale will return before the match against PSG on February 13 or 14, 2018.

The other match-ups in this year’s UEFA Champions League Round of 16 are the following: Juventus FC vs Tottenham Hotspur FC, FC Basel vs Manchester City FC, FC Porto vs Liverpool FC, Sevilla FC vs Manchester United FC, FC Shakhtar Donetsk vs AS Roma, and lastly, FC Bayern Munich vs Besiktas J.K. Football Team.

The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 first leg will be on February 13-14, 2018. All teams will play on those dates and of course on the second leg that will be on March 6-7, 2018. The twitter also erupts as the teams already know their opponents and the fans are using the #UCLdraw which is now number 2 trending worldwide.