Two more tickets to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals will be punched Wednesday, with the defending champions looking to maintain their dominance and the tournament underdog hoping that its time is not up.
Barcelona breezed by Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 in Germany in the opening leg of their Round of 16 tie and will look to hold serve at home to keep their hopes of a repeat alive. On the other end of the spectrum, upstart APOEL Nicosia must overturn a 1-0 deficit to Lyon at home in Cyprus in order to keep their dream run going.
In FA Cup play, Tottenham will look to fill out the quarterfinal field by holding off an upset bid by Gary Smith-coached Stevenage, which held Spurs to a scoreless draw in their initial fifth-round matchup and forced Wednesday's replay.
Later on Wednesday, the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals continue, with Toronto FC hosting the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders welcoming Santos Laguna to the Pacific Northwest. SBI will have match night commentary for both games, so keep an eye out for that.
If you will be watching any of the day's matches, please feel free to share any thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below. Enjoy the action (TV schedule is after the jump):
WEDNESDAY'S SOCCER ON TV
2:30 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv - Tottenham vs. Stevenage
2:45 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Barcelona vs. Bayer Leverkusen
2:45 p.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv – APOEL Nicosia vs. Lyon
8 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel/Telefutura – Toronto FC vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
10 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel/Telefutura – Seattle Sounders vs. Santos Laguna
Cyprus Hill!
What a match… So happy for the underdogs APOEL!!
Penalties!
Wow this is awesome, both teams playing balls to the walls
Anybody else just see the guy smoking openly in the first row in Cyprus? 1-1 on aggregate going into the second extra time session between Lyon and APOEL, away goal rule in effect in extra time so if Lyon scores one its probably over.
Seems a bit odd to have it in extra time, because on team has an extra 30 minutes to score an away goal, but I guess the flip side of the coin is that the other team gets an extra 30 minutes at home.
Sorry to break up the Messi talk but Ives you failed to make mention of Boca Juniors v Fluminense tonight on
Fox Deportes 8pm/5pm PST
For my money it’s him and Jordan. Only think Messi needs to do to cement his status is win the big one…
If you include the European Cup era, ten players previously scored five goals in a game, although all of them faced lesser quality opposition than Bayern. We should just enjoy watching Messi – what a player!
I don’t mean to get all dramatic here, and I know it’s not cool to cross sport lines, but does Leo Messi have a chance of becoming the best athlete in the history of international sports? Who is already in this conversation?
He’s 7 goals away from being Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer at age 24.
and yet he plays like stats like that don’t matter. not that he’s ho hum about it, it’s just like he just… plays.
Messi makes history as the first player to ever score 5 goals in a Champions League game.
Also… he has NINE goals in his last two home games. NINE. And either 48 or 49 goals on the season.
For the record… this team that is losing 7 to 0 beat Chelsea a couple months ago.
Sounds like the BL keeper has given two to Messi, while Tello scored on his first touch ever in the CL. Not bad for a 20-year-old.
especially after Lyon mysteriously getting 6 goals in the 2nd half against their opponent in the last round to advance to this round
LIONEL MESSI HAS FIVE ON A GOLAZO!
Just saw the Bar-Lev scoreline.
Dear God.
they are….they’re just passing the ball back in forth, with 17 minutes left
This is just sad. Why don’t they let up a little?!? It is scary to think that the team Barca is obliterating right now beat Bayern Munich a few days ago…
6-0
highline low pressure defense against the best passing side ever, not a good idea.
And Tello scores his brace, Barcelona’s 6th.
And Messi scores his 4th goal of the game on a defensive mistake. He’s just making it look so easy.
what about 5-0???
Tello!
Scores his first Champions League goal only 3 minutes after coming on.
4-0 flatters Leverkusen.
Messi is assaulting the record books.
I would hate to be on Bayer Lev.
Oh my god Messi, come on. Hat trick hero with a ridiculous chip.
Keep your eye on this leo messi kid. He could be big someday.
Only Pedro’s poor finishing has kept the score down. Both Iniesta and Messi love to run at defenders. Where others have fear, they are ecstatic. They just love to attack and always turn quickly to face goal.
and again. Messi with a brace.
Lionel Messi beats 4 players and just freezes the keeper for his second already. That was gross.
Golazo.
Lionel Messi just toys with people.
apology accepted.
semi’s… sorry.
Definitely going for APOEL today. I just want that squad to keep its run going at least until the semi-s.