By RYAN TOLMICH
Barcelona were able to escape the opening leg of the Copa del Rey quarter finals in possession of a 1-0 lead over Atletico Madrid, but Lionel Messi and co. will be in a battle to maintain that advantage in Wednesday’s second leg at Vicente Calderon Stadium.
The Catalan club enter Wednesday on a six-game win-streak, which includes last week’s opening leg victory as well as a 3-1 league triumph over last season’s league winners. Having not conceded in four games, Barca will now have to content with in-form Atleti striker Antoine Griezmann, who scored twice this past weekend as Atleti topped Ray Vallecano, 3-1.
In the African Cup of Nations, Group D maintains the potential of being settled by drawing lots as each of the four games to this point have ended in identical 1-1 draws. Perennial powerhouses Cameroon and Ivory Coast will matchup while Guinea takes on Mali, as yet another set of identical results will see the luck of the draw determine advancement to the knockout stages
If you will be watching today’s games, feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy today’s action (Today’s soccer TV schedule after the jump):
1:00 p.m. – beIN SPorts USA – Cameroon vs. Ivory Coast
1:00 p.m. – beIN Sports Connect – Guinea vs. Mali
2:45 p.m. – beIN Sports Connect –Â Parma vs Juventus
3:00 p.m. – beIN Sports USA –Â Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona
6:00 p.m. – Fox Sports 1 – Chile vs. USMNT
7:55 p.m. – Univision Deportes –Â Tiburones De Veracruz vs. Altamira FC
8:00 p.m. – ESPN3 – Nexaca vs. Club Tijuana
9:55 p.m. – Univision Deportes –Â Dorados vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
10:00 p.m. – ESPN Deportes –Â Toluca vs. Merida
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Like the concept- I think we’ve got good personnel to play well in the 3-5-2 with our full squad, so I never get worked up about the line-up decisions in friendlies, but I really wanted to see Lee Nguyen at the point ahead of Mix and MB w/ Jozy and Deuce up top
I hope he gets at least a half in….
Shea… meh… he’s a lefty so no reason to get worked up. Maybe JK is giving him a do or die chance to reinvent himself
Yeah, full side it might work with Brooks – Jones – Cameron or Besler – Jones – Cameron but I don’t see Birnbaum being mobile enough to play in the back of a 3-5-2. Would rather see O’Neill, a former midfielder. Maybe I’m wrong. I haven’t seen him a ton. Any DC fans out there? How mobile is he?
Mother effin b flippin woods. I swear jk has a wtf moment on every starting line up.
…don’t leave us hangin Colin, what is this moment of which you speak? Nguyen on bench? Shea AND Wood starting? Do tell
Wood does provide good workrate and mobility up front. His finishing has been terrible, but he should be a good partner for Jozy.
3-5-2 as expected:
lineup: Rimando; Birnbaum, Jones, Besler; Yedlin, Bradley, Dempsey (c), Diskerud, Shea; Altidore, Wood
Would have much rather seen Jozy/Clint up top with Nguyen underneath, but everything else shakes out pretty much as expected.
Is Bobby Wood JK’s long lost son? I have never seen a coach have such a desire to play/support someone who has proved so little at any level.
I like Wood a lot, but even I have to admit this is a bit much for a guy that looks good on tape but has produced next to nothing.
Maybe trying to help get Bobby Wood a move? Should be interesting at least.
Anything is possible with the Wheel of Juergen. Sounds likely to me.
Out sick today. What a start to this Barca/Athleti match! 2 goals in opening 10 minutes! Messi to Suarez to Neymar, and they made it look easy.
What an absolutely absurd penalty all for Atleti. Not only was Mascherano outside the box, it wasn’t even a foul. An absolute joke of a call.
We complain about MLS refereeing, but poor officiating infests even the best leagues in the world. This is ridiculous. He’s missed several penalties for both sides. The one pk he called wasn’t a pk in any sense of the word, and he just watched an Atleti player fling his cleat in anger at the linesman and he only assigned a YELLOW CARD!!!! What do you have to do to earn a red? Kill someone?
…Go on, I’m listening…
No deaths yet, sorry. Torres and Neymar had a bit of handbags at the end of the half, though.
And the Atleti captain got ejected in the tunnel at half time. No idea why, though. It’s POSSIBLE he murdered someone, I suppose. Is that good enough?
Still, if you can ignore the officiating, it’s been a brilliant match. It’s fun to see a world class defense get utterly shredded by Messi, Neymar, and Suarez. That first Barca goal was really the key. It’s hard to defend against these guys from behind. It just goes to show you that any team is vulnerable defensively when they are forced to open up and attack.
My commentary is responding to treatment and has begun jogging lightly. Last night, Alejandro Guido started and went 90 in a 3-1 Tijuana victory of Necaxa in the Copa MX, scoring a goal in the 10th minute. Joe Corona went 89 in the victory wearing the captain’s armband.
Guido’s not even on my radar. Love to see a scouting report on him.
Guido is a 20 year old attacking midfielder who has looked pretty decent in limited minutes with Tijuana. This was his second consecutive cup match in which to score a goal. Made a late season appearance in league play last season (along with some cup matches, I believe), and apparently held his own. I think a look from Herzog with the Olympic squad is warranted.
I honestly can’t figure Corona out. He hasn’t looked good in a US shirt but he seems just fine in LigaMX. Maybe he just cant do it on the international level. Glad he seems personally successful though.
Sheffield v Tottenham Capital One Cup Semi-final 2nd leg!! Not on TV!!! Incredibly disappointed…COYS!
The Group D scenarios as I see them. Feel free to correct me:
1) If one match ends in a tie and the other does not, the winner takes the group, while the two drawing squads draw lots for 2nd place.
2) If both matches end in a tie, but by different scorelines, the two teams in the higher scoring match advance by goals scored. They would need to draw lots to pick which team takes the group and which team takes second.
3) If both matches end in a tie by the same scoreline, all four teams would be tied, and lots would be drawn among all four.
4) If both matches have a winner, we get no lots. Booooooring.
I’m not sure what I was thinking with (4). If both matches have a winner, and go by the same score, there’d be lots for who takes first as opposed to second.
Anyway, I’m seeing all over (ukmatchcast, twitter) that both matches need to tie 1-1 to go to lots. I’m not sure why that’s the case, even if you’re only talking about 4-way lots.