The Daily Bee (February 18th, 2021): Erling Haaland Might be Good

Good Morning to everyone except those of you that did not vote for Mahmoud Dahoud as Man of the Match yesterday.

So the first four games in the Champions League Round of 16 have been completed.

The results and highlights from these games:

RB Leipzig 0-2 Liverpool

Barcelona 1-4 PSG

Sevilla 2-3 Borussia Dortmund

Porto 2-1 Juventus

There’s been a few narratives already developing from these games, from Barcelona’s collapse, to the passing of the torch from Messi and Ronaldo to Mbappe and Haaland. While it’s true that Mbappe and Haaland had incredible games, it remains to be seen if this is truly the beginning of their rise to the top of world football.

Next week will see the other first-leg ties take place. As a reminder, these are the remaining fixtures in the first leg of the Round of 16:

Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea

Lazio vs Bayern Munich

Atalanta vs Real Madrid

Borussia Monchengladbach vs Man City

So there’s plenty to look forward to!

Bayern Munich Dealing with Covid Outbreak

Everyone is dealing with injuries at the moment, including Bayern Munich, who are currently facing a small outbreak of coronavirus. They’ve lost Thomas Muller after he tested positive for Covid-19 while they were out in Qatar for the Club World Cup, and now Benjamin Pavard has been added to the list, also testing positive for Covid-19 this week. It looks like both will miss Bayern Munich’s game against Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend, and potentially the Lazio game in the week too.

As much as I like the prospect of Bayern Munich being without some of their best players, I certainly wouldn’t wish Covid-19 on anyone (nor any phys. ical injury). Hopefully they get the outbreak under control, and they just all lose their car keys or something and face four weeks out while they search for them around their massive houses.

Haaland is a Ridiculous Person

Not only is Erling Haaland a brilliant football player and potential future Ballon d’Or winner, he’s also undiluted meme fuel.

Everything he says in interviews has the right amount of dry humor for it to be like a drug for the Internet, and he likes to add to it himself too:

He’s a lot of fun, both on and off the pitch.

The Daily Buzz

Which of the next round of Champions League games are you most excited about?