Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

Jugen Klopp reacted to Liverpool's shocking loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League 16th finals by criticizing Atletico's play style, saying they should play "proper football" instead of banking on counerattacks. Atletico beat Liverpool - the defending European champions - 3-2 after extra time in the second leg of their last-16 tie at Anfield. In the regular 90 minutes of play, Gini Wijnaldum gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead, requiring extra time to deterine which of the two teams would dominate on aggregate, given that Liverpool lost 1-0 at Madrid in the first leg. Four minutes into extra time, Roberto Firminio gave Liverpool the lead once more. Within a short space of time, Marcos Llorente fired two goals for Atletico, and Alvaro Morata sealed Liverpool's fate with a late goal, as Atletico won 4-2 on aggregate.  Atletico only had half as many shots on target as premier League chart leaders Liverpool and had less ball possession. They were however able ...

The first half of one of the toughest La Liga clashes - Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona saw the goalkeepers of both sides lifting their respective teams, with Atletico Madrid being the sharper side. Marc Andre Ter Stergen performed two outstanding saves for Barcelona in the first half, and Atletico's Jan Oblak did same as he tipped Gerard Pique's header onto the bar. Barcelona's other savior Lionel Messi was mostly silent in the first hour of play and got fully engaged in the game with a curling shot into the hour mark. Barcelona struggled to break down a tough Atletico Madrid defence at the Wanda Metropolitano, and it almost looked as though the game would end in a draw... till Messi genius got the winner for the Catalans in the 86th minute. Messi played a beautiful give-and-go with Luis Suarez, with "El Pistolero" setting up Messi's left-footed curler that went low and into Oblak's net. This was Messi's 30th career goal vs Atletico Madrid. Barcel...

Thanks to Paulo Dybala, Juventus beat Atletico Madrid yesterday night and now top group D in the Champions League. He scored the lone goal of the encounter, making headlines in place of Juventus' biggest star Cristiano Ronaldo. The latter seems to have been having a little bad luck with the Champions League this month. Three weeks ago, Aaron Ramsey poked in Cristiano Ronaldo's goalbound free kick, preventing him from breaking a new Champions League record by scoring against a 34th different club. Yesterday, Paulo Dybala's thunderbolt free kick scored within seconds to the end of the second half sent supporters and social media into frenzy. Paulo Dybala has been able to score a goal already in just two free kick attempts whereas Cristiano Ronaldo has scored none in 10 free kicks taken. Dybala is also Juventus' Champions League top scorer since Ronaldo joined the club in 2018. Dybala has scored eight goals in the Champions League since the 2018 season, and Ronald...

Champions League fixtures return this week, and Atletico Madrid face Juventus today at Turin. Diego Simeone - Atleti coach - told the press Atletico would be facing a team and not Cristiano Ronaldo as an individual despite his goal-scoring prowess.  "Cristiano Ronaldo is a champion and we can't say anything," he said. "He is number one, extraordinary and always makes the difference. "However, I don't think it's Ronaldo against Atletico, as we have come to play against Juve." He also said Atletico Madrid follow his game-by-game philosophy and do not speculate on their qualification to the Champions League round of 16. "We have a way of working, thinking about tomorrow's game and then there are a lot of results that can generate satisfaction or not," he continued. "Then we will look at the match that remains. "The opponent is strong, with a powerful squad and a coach with a very strong style that he is transm...