- Roo Legend: Rooney Retires from England duty!
- Australasia gets represented in the Premier League this year!
- Sanchez in North London, Where Have We Heard That Before?
- Sigurdsson Sale: Swansea could face Ragnarok after losing Thor!
- 2017/18 Premier League Predictions!
- PSG set to trigger record Neymar Fee!
- Mourinho thrives with a Prag-Matic approach!
- The Loan Ranger: Game of Loans!
- Rome(-lu) Wasn’t Built In A Day, But Hernandez Is Heading Hammers Way!
- Man United, Arsenal, and Huddersfield are all in a dash to splash the cash!
Road to Cardiff: Last and Curious 8
To celebrate the cinematic release of “Fast and Furious 8” and the return of the UEFA Champions League to television screens next week Richard Lewis reviews the “Last and Curious 8” left in this season’s competition. The elite tournament concludes on Saturday 3rd of June 2017 in Wales, with Real star Gareth Bale aiming for a third big-eared trophy in his homeland.
The elite tournament concludes on Saturday 3rd of June 2017 in Wales, with Real star Gareth Bale aiming for a third big-eared trophy in his homeland. Having reached the Last Eight stage this April, there are surprisingly Curious inclusions from England and France, with regular faces from Spain, Germany, and Italy, expect explosions and high-octane action. Not even Hollywood script-writers would believe how some of the sides got this far (Barca avoided one almighty car crash exit last time out). The great eight of Europe are a bit like the Rock and Vin Diesel, as the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid (and new boys Leicester City!) are back again, going hell to leather in the 2016/17 quarter-finals on the Road to Cardiff:
Last and Curious 8:
Atletico Madrid
Quarter-Final Opponent: Leicester City
Key Man: Antoine Griezmann
Manager: Diego Simeone
Driving Force: Koke
Last-16 Victory: 4-2 on aggregate over Bayer Leverkusen
Last Season’s Finish: Runners-Up
Stadium: Vicente Calderon
Captain: Gabi
Fast: Saul Niguez
Furious: Diego Godin
Barcelona
Quarter-Final Opponent: Juventus
Key Man: Lionel Messi
Manager: Luis Enrique
Driving Force: Andres Iniesta
Last-16 Victory: 6-5 on aggregate over Pars St-Germain
Last Season’s Finish: Quarter-Finals
Stadium: Nou Camp
Captain: Andres Iniesta
Fast: Neymar
Furious: Luis Suarez
Bayern Munich
Quarter-Final Opponent: Real Madrid
Key Man: Robert Lewandowski
Manager: Carlo Ancelotti
Driving Force: Arjen Robben
Last-16 Victory: 10-2 on aggregate over Arsenal
Last Season’s Finish: Semi-Finals
Stadium: Allianz Arena
Captain: Philipp Lahm
Fast: Kingsley Coman
Furious: Arturo Vidal
Borussia Dortmund
Quarter-Final Opponent: Monaco
Key Man: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Manager: Thomas Tuchel
Driving Force: Marco Reus
Last-16 Victory: 4-1 on aggregate over Benfica
Last Season’s Finish: N/A – Europa League Quarter Finals
Stadium: Westfalenstadion
Captain: Marcel Schmelzer
Fast: Christian Pulisic
Furious: Ousmane Dembele
Juventus
Quarter-Final Opponent: Barcelona
Key Man: Gonzalo Higuaín
Manager: Massimiliano Allegri
Driving Force: Sami Khedira
Last-16 Victory: 3-0 on aggregate over Porto
Last Season’s Finish: Round of 16
Stadium: Juventus Stadium
Captain: Gianluigi Buffon
Fast: Paulo Dybala
Furious: Giorgio Chiellini
Leicester City
Quarter-Final Opponent: Atletico Madrid
Key Man: Jamie Vardy
Manager: Craig Shakespeare
Driving Force: Wilfred Ndidi
Last-16 Victory: 3-2 on aggregate over Sevilla
Last Season’s Finish: N/A – no European football
Stadium: King Power
Captain: Wes Morgan
Fast: Demarai Gray
Furious: Robert Huth
Monaco
Quarter-Final Opponent: Borussia Dortmund
Key Man: Radamel Falcao
Manager: Leonardo Jardim
Driving Force: Joao Moutinho
Last-16 Victory: 6-6 on away goals on aggregate over Man City
Last Season’s Finish: Qualifying Play-off round (lost 4-3 on agg. to Valencia)
Stadium: Stade Louis II
Captain: Radamel Falcao
Fast: Kylian Mbappe
Furious: Tiemoue Bakayoko
Real Madrid
Quarter-Final Opponent: Bayern Munich
Key Man: Cristiano Ronaldo
Manager: Zinedine Zidane
Driving Force: Toni Kroos
Last-16 Victory: 6-2 on aggregate over Napoli
Last Season’s Finish: Winners
Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu
Captain: Sergio Ramos
Fast: Gareth Bale
Furious: Sergio Ramos
Leicester are the 132nd club to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup or UEFA Champions League while Real Madrid are there for the 34th time: the Last-8 ties commence on Tuesday 11th April (first legs) and conclude on Wednesday 19th April (second legs).
Homepage photo credit: Ungry Young Man [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons