Bayern lets Manchester City off the hookHeres what happened on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, in case you missed it… The results Watch match highlights: CSKA Moscow 1, AS Roma 1 || BATE Borisov 0, FC Porto 3 || Manchester City 3, Bayern Munich 2 || Paris Saint Germain 3, Ajax 1 || APOEL 0, Barcelona 4 || Shakhtar Donetsk 0, Athletic Bilbao 1 || Schalke 0, Chelsea 5 || Sporting 3, Maribor 1 || Talking points Aguero comes to Citys rescue, but…: Since joining Manchester City, Sergio Aguero has been touted as one of the most influential players of his era. He provided further evidence on Tuesday by scoring three times—including twice in the dying minutes—to lift the Blues to a dramatic, come-from-behind 3-2 win over Bayern Munich. City looked to be dead to the world at the halftime break when they trailed 2-1. As the game wore on, it looked as though the English champions would suffer the indignity of being bounced from the tournament with a game to spare in the group stage. But Aguero pounced on two atrocious errors by the usually reliable Xabi Alonso and Jerome Boateng to score in the 85th minute and again in injury time to keep City alive headed into Matchday 6. Dont let Citys late comeback fool you, though. Even after Mehdi Benatia was sent off in the 20th minute, Bayern still dominated proceedings and forced City to chase. Bayern only had 10 men, but they were playing the like team with the numerical advantage—not City. The Blues were let down by poor goalkeeping from Joe Hart, less than stellar play at the back from Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala, and suspect support defending from Frank Lampard and James Milner in midfield. Bayern had the win in their hands, and but for a pair of costly and uncharacteristic errors by the Germans, City would be eliminated from the Champions League. Messi sets record in style: What a week its been for Lionel Messi. On Saturday, the mercurial Argentine recorded a hat trick in Barcelonas 5-1 win over Sevilla to become the all-time leading scorer in La Liga with 252 goals. Former Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra held the previous record since 1955. On Tuesday, Messi registered yet another hat trick to take his Champions League tally to 74 goals, moving him past Real Madrid legend Raul as the competitions all-time scorer. In case you forgot, Messi is still only 27. Twenty-seven. Not even 30, Messi is already the highest ever scorer in the history of Barcelona, the Champions League/European Cup and La Liga. Think about that for a second. Barring injury, can you just imagine the kind of damage hes going to do on the record books in the next three years? Were in the presence of one of the all-time greats, folks. He and Cristiano Ronaldo are right up there with Pele, Maradona and Di Stefano. They might not ever win a World Cup, but that hardly matters. In Messi and Ronaldo, we have been privileged to see two of the games all-time greats performing at the peak of their powers at the exact same time in history. There have been few other eras where its been better to be soccer fan. Wednesday programming alert: Watch Zenit Saint Petersburg vs Benfica on the four main Sportsnet channels at 11:45 am ET, Ludogorets vs Liverpool on the four main Sportsnet channels at 2:30 pm ET, Basel vs Real Madrid on Sportsnet ONE at 2:30 pm ET and Arsenal vs Borussia Dortmund on Sportsnet World at 2:30 pm ET. || Also, watch these games at 2:45 pm ET online at Sportsnet World NOW: Anderlecht vs Galatasaray, Bayer Leverkusen vs Monaco, Atletico Madrid vs Olympiacos and Malmo vs Juventus. || Broadcast schedule Goal of the day Save of the day In the 79th minute, Roma launched a quick counterattack as CSKA failed to get numbers back. A perfect through ball from Francesco Totti sent Adem Ljajic in on goal, but Igor Akinfeev made a fabulous kick stop to deny the Roma midfielder. Match of the day It has to be Manchester City vs Bayern Munich, doesnt it? Lead changes. A sending off. A frantic pace. Late heroics. A hat trick. A dramatic comeback. Six pack of stats Lionel Messi surpassed Raul to become the outright all-time top scorer in the history of the Champions League/European Cup with 74 goals. Sergio Aguero has now scored 11 goals in 11 Champions League appearances since the start of last season. Francesco Totti has scored 17 goals in the Champions League, nine more than any other player for AS Roma. John Terry is only the fourth defender to score 10 or more goals in the Champions League. Xavi has now made 145 appearances in the Champions League, more than any other player. Edinson Cavani has scored in each of the last six competitive games he has started for PSG. ** Stats courtesy of Opta Best moment of the day He said it “We gave them the game.” – Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola Burning question 3 stars 1) Sergio Aguero: Where would Manchester City be without him on this night?2) Lionel Messi: The Argentine ace recorded a hat trick as he entered the history books.3) Hector Herrera: The Mexican midfielder scored a marvelous goal, and set up two others in Portos 3-0 win over BATE Borisov. Soccer Central podcast: SPORTSNET.CAs Soccer Central podcast, hosted by John Molinaro and James Sharman, takes an in-depth look at the beautiful game and offers timely and thoughtful analysis on the sports biggest issues. To listen and subscribe to the podcast, CLICK HERE. By John Molinaro Heres what happened on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, in case you missed it… The results Watch match highlights: CSKA Moscow 1, AS Roma 1 || BATE Borisov 0, FC Porto 3 || Manchester City 3, Bayern Munich 2 || Paris Saint Germain 3, Ajax 1 || APOEL 0, Barcelona 4 || Shakhtar Donetsk 0, Athletic Bilbao 1 || Schalke 0, Chelsea 5 || Sporting 3, Maribor 1 || Talking points Aguero comes to Citys rescue, but…: Since joining Manchester City, Sergio Aguero has been touted as one of the most influential players of his era. He provided further evidence on Tuesday by scoring three times—including twice in the dying minutes—to lift the Blues to a dramatic, come-from-behind 3-2 win over Bayern Munich. City looked to be dead to the world at the halftime break when they trailed 2-1. As the game wore on, it looked as though the English champions would suffer the indignity of being bounced from the tournament with a game to spare in the group stage. But Aguero pounced on two atrocious errors by the usually reliable Xabi Alonso and Jerome Boateng to score in the 85th minute and again in injury time to keep City alive headed into Matchday 6. Dont let Citys late comeback fool you, though. Even after Mehdi Benatia was sent off in the 20th minute, Bayern still dominated proceedings and forced City to chase. Bayern only had 10 men, but they were playing the like team with the numerical advantage—not City. The Blues were let down by poor goalkeeping from Joe Hart, less than stellar play at the back from Vincent Kompany and Eliaquim Mangala, and suspect support defending from Frank Lampard and James Milner in midfield. Bayern had the win in their hands, and but for a pair of costly and uncharacteristic errors by the Germans, City would be eliminated from the Champions League. Messi sets record in style: What a week its been for Lionel Messi. On Saturday, the mercurial Argentine recorded a hat trick in Barcelonas 5-1 win over Sevilla to become the all-time leading scorer in La Liga with 252 goals. Former Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra held the previous record since 1955. On Tuesday, Messi registered yet another hat trick to take his Champions League tally to 74 goals, moving him past Real Madrid legend Raul as the competitions all-time scorer. In case you forgot, Messi is still only 27. Twenty-seven. Not even 30, Messi is already the highest ever scorer in the history of Barcelona, the Champions League/European Cup and La Liga. Think about that for a second. Barring injury, can you just imagine the kind of damage hes going to do on the record books in the next three years? Were in the presence of one of the all-time greats, folks. He and Cristiano Ronaldo are right up there with Pele, Maradona and Di Stefano. They might not ever win a World Cup, but that hardly matters. In Messi and Ronaldo, we have been privileged to see two of the games all-time greats performing at the peak of their powers at the exact same time in history. There have been few other eras where its been better to be soccer fan. Wednesday programming alert: Watch Zenit Saint Petersburg vs Benfica on the four main Sportsnet channels at 11:45 am ET, Ludogorets vs Liverpool on the four main Sportsnet channels at 2:30 pm ET, Basel vs Real Madrid on Sportsnet ONE at 2:30 pm ET and Arsenal vs Borussia Dortmund on Sportsnet World at 2:30 pm ET. || Also, watch these games at 2:45 pm ET online at Sportsnet World NOW: Anderlecht vs Galatasaray, Bayer Leverkusen vs Monaco, Atletico Madrid vs Olympiacos and Malmo vs Juventus. || Broadcast schedule Goal of the day Save of the day In the 79th minute, Roma launched a quick counterattack as CSKA failed to get numbers back. A perfect through ball from Francesco Totti sent Adem Ljajic in on goal, but Igor Akinfeev made a fabulous kick stop to deny the Roma midfielder. Match of the day It has to be Manchester City vs Bayern Munich, doesnt it? Lead changes. A sending off. A frantic pace. Late heroics. A hat trick. A dramatic comeback. Six pack of stats Lionel Messi surpassed Raul to become the outright all-time top scorer in the history of the Champions League/European Cup with 74 goals. Sergio Aguero has now scored 11 goals in 11 Champions League appearances since the start of last season. Francesco Totti has scored 17 goals in the Champions League, nine more than any other player for AS Roma. John Terry is only the fourth defender to score 10 or more goals in the Champions League. Xavi has now made 145 appearances in the Champions League, more than any other player. Edinson Cavani has scored in each of the last six competitive games he has started for PSG. ** Stats courtesy of Opta Best moment of the day He said it “We gave them the game.” – Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola Burning question 3 stars 1) Sergio Aguero: Where would Manchester City be without him on this night?2) Lionel Messi: The Argentine ace recorded a hat trick as he entered the history books.3) Hector Herrera: The Mexican midfielder scored a marvelous goal, and set up two others in Portos 3-0 win over BATE Borisov. Soccer Central podcast: SPORTSNET.CAs Soccer Central podcast, hosted by John Molinaro and James Sharman, takes an in-depth look at the beautiful game and offers timely and thoughtful analysis on the sports biggest issues. To listen and subscribe to the podcast, CLICK HERE. ift.tt/1gB4pon
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 23:19:30 +0000
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