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On Wednesday, Dortmund lost 3-1 in Monaco. That meant that they had crashed out of the Champions League Quarterfinals with a 6-3 aggregate defeat over two legs.

Sure, it was disappointing, but some of the reaction to BVBs exit from the CL has been quite over the top. Much of that reaction has been in the form of abuse hurled at Thomas Tuchel.

Yes, there are some legitimate complaints to have with Tuchel after the defeats. He probably picked the wrong starting lineups in both matches. Sven Benders inclusion didnt work in the first leg, but Tuchel recognized that and switched things up at halftime. In the second leg, Erik Durm was the ill-advised starter who got yanked early on.

Those are fair criticisms of Thomas Tuchel, but some are using them as fuel to say that Tuchel should lose his job? Thats preposterous.

For starters, Monaco are a better team than Dortmund. They have been all season. Theyre in first place in a French league that is stronger than you think. Theyve been the best offensive team in all of Europe this season, and have impressively scored 3 goals in every single knockout game theyve played up until this point.

Compare this to a Dortmund side that hasnt even come close to competing for the title, in a Bundesliga that is weaker than you probably think. While Monaco have been a model of consistency, Dortmund have had embarrassing results like losses to Darmstadt, Berlin, and a poor Bayer Leverkusen team. Such is life when you lose multiple key players in the summer and replace them with promising youngsters. Theyre growing pains.

And then of course there were the injuries affecting both sides. Monaco were only without Djibril Sidibe, while Dortmund were without Marc Bartra, Marco Reus (for the 1st leg), Andre Schurrle, and Mario Gotze.

This meant that BVB had to start Matthias Ginter, a player who is simply not good enough to play this deep into the Champions League.

Then there were the refereeing decisions. Im not one who likes to blame the refs, but they were atrocious in the quarterfinals. And not just in the Dortmund-Monaco matches either.

And of course, there was the emotional toll still hitting Dortmunds players after the bombing attack before the first leg. Its been discussed a lot, but surely the poor starts in both legs had as much to do with that, as they might have had to do with questionable starting lineups. It was impossible to stay focused under those conditions.

Marc Bartra being available could have made a world of difference, especially considering the way he had been playing recently. But it appears that no one in Europe is capable of stopping the likes of Kylian Mbappe right now.

But with or without Bartra, it should be recognized by Dortmund fans that the better team won. This Monaco team is a team for the ages, and its a shame that they will probably be broken up in the transfer market this summer. But dont be shocked if they win it all before they split this summer.

Dortmund meanwhile are still a very young team with a very bright future. And theyve got a very young coach who, despite what you may be feeling after the quarterfinals, also has a very bright future.

He managed to guide Dortmund to this point, when they couldve easily crashed out of the competition earlier.

So lets give Thomas Tuchel a break, and lets get behind our manager. Yes you can criticize him, but dont try and claim that a Champions League Quarterfinal exit means he should lose his job.

Continued here:
Calm down Tuchel haters, Dortmund overachieved by reaching the Champions League Quarterfinals - Fear The Wall (registration) (blog)

Andres Iniesta says former teammate Dani Alves is one of the best ever foreigners to ply his trade for Barca. Luis Enrique says Barcelona have been 'liberated' by their thumping from Juventus, as they chase another epic comeback.

If Juventus can knock Barcelona out of the Champions League on Wednesday night, they will have eliminated "the best team in the world," according to Bianconeri full-back Dani Alves.

The chances of the Turin-based side succeeding are high following their 3-0 win in Italy last week, but they still have a job to do at the Camp Nou, and former Barca defender Dani Alves says that no advantage can be a comfortable one when you are up against the Blaugrana.

Luis Enrique's men recovered from a 4-0 defeat to beat Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in the last round and that just proves their status.

"We're going to have to put a great deal of effort into it," Dani Alves said at a prematch news conference. "If we succeed in knocking out Barcelona, it would mean we've eliminated the best team in the world.

"I'd like to give them no chance at all of beating us, but I'd have to say it's 60-40 in our favour. We've got to be cautious and respectful with Barca given the result we have got, but we know that games are long here at the Camp Nou."

A different approach from the one taken by PSG in the last round can be expected from Juve, whose coach Massimiliano Allegri has no intention of adjusting his attack-minded 4-2-3-1 formation just to defend their advantage.

"A perfect game for Juve would mean going through," Allegri said. "To do that, we're going to have to defend, attack and score. All I will be telling my team is that we need a good game both defensively and attacking, and that is it.

"I expect Juve to be up for this game tomorrow night. We must not get carried away; we've got to be sensible and clinical."

Fortunately for Allegri, Paulo Dybala -- who scored twice in the first leg -- has been passed fit after fears he would miss out due to an ankle injury he picked up against Pescara at the weekend.

"Fortunately I've got a fully-fit squad," Allegri said. "There won't be many changes, we just need to play a game a bit differently tactically. We'll take to the field as if this is a one-off knockout game and not thinking about what happened in the first leg."

If they succeed, Juve can gain revenge for their 2015 final defeat by moving a step closer to the 2017 showpiece, and making them arguably the team to avoid in Friday's semifinal draw.

Ben Gladwell reports on Serie A, the Italian national team and the Bundesliga for ESPN FC, UEFA and the Press Association. @UEFAcomBenG.

Link:
Dani Alves: Juventus facing 'best team in the world' in Barcelona - ESPN FC

MONTREAL The message to the Montreal Impact from coach Mauro Biello this week was about overconfidence.

Just because they are coming off their first win of the Major League Soccer season and have the foundering Philadelphia Union next up on the schedule, that doesn't mean an automatic three points.

"That was number one on the agenda," said Biello, whose club visits the Union on Saturday afternoon. "We need to go with an urgency and a playoff mentality."

It's not as if the 10th-place Impact (1-2-3) are leagues ahead of the 11th-place Union (0-4-2), even if their spirits are up after a 2-1 victory at home over 10-man Atlanta.

But they are facing a team that hasn't won in 14 games since a 2-0 win over Kansas City on Aug. 27, an 0-10-4 run that includes a loss to Toronto FC in a playoff knockout game in October.

There were reports of booing as they left the field after a 2-0 loss last Saturday to New York City, a fourth defeat in a row. The Union has been outscored 11-5 by opponents this season.

Beleaguered coach Jim Curtain has been juggling his starting 11 in hope of finding a winning combination, so far to no avail.

Biello sees a dangerous opponent rather than a sitting duck, however.

"The game I've seen, I think they were a bit unlucky," he said. "If you watched the first 10 minutes (against NYC), if they were a little sharper they could have taken the lead.

"One thing I've learned is that there's so much parity in the league, every game is difficult. Yes, this is a team that hasn't found success at home, but we're expecting a difficult challenge because there's a sense of urgency on their end to get that first win. We have to be ready for that."

Also, Montreal has not won in Philadelphia (0-2-4) since joining MLS in 2012. And they are 0-2-2 in away matches this season.

"We're kind of in the same situation that Atlanta was in last week, playing a team that's had some tough results and are looking for their first win at home," said Impact right back Chris Duvall. "We know we're going to get a desperate team and one that's ready for a fight."

The Impact will have midfielder Marco Donadel back from a one-game suspension but will be without centre back Victor Cabrera, who is out indefinitely with an ankle injury that forced him out early against Atlanta.

The back line will likely have Duvall and Ambroise Oyongo on the flanks with Laurent Ciman and Hassoun Camara in the middle.

Donadel's return would bump Calum Mallace back to the bench.

While putting two victories together and picking up a first road win are the Impact's main goals, Duvall hopes to throw in a clean sheet.

"We still haven't got our first shutout," he said. "I think that's the first thing.

"From all 11 players on the field, we want to get our first shutout because we know that with the attackers we have we'll get some goals."

They might add cutting down on fouls they lead the league with more than 15 per game _ and avoiding red cards (they've seen three in six games) to the wish list.

Up front, Ignacio Piatti returned from injury last week and scored on a penalty, while academy product Anthony Jackson-Hamel came off the bench to score the MLS goal of the week in added time, a clever redirection with his back to the net.

The goal that gave the Impact their first win of the season may earn 23-year-old from Quebec City more minutes.

Continue reading here:
Impact can't take slumping Union lightly in quest for first away victory - Edmonton Journal

Associated Press

Monaco took its 3-2 first-leg advantage and stormed into the Champions League semifinals with a 3-1 home second-leg win over Borussia Dortmund.

Kylian Mbappe scored the opener very early on, and Falcao also struck before the 20 minute mark to send Monaco well through.

Just three minutes into the match, Benjamin Mendy burst forwards cutting inside from the left flank, and he rifled a shot on goal. It was straight at Roman Burki, but powerful enough that the German could only parry the shot. The rebound fell straight to two streaking Monaco attackers, and it was Mbappe who struck a shot off Burkis hands and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The goal makes Mbappe the first player in Champions League history to score in his first four knockout game appearances.

Then, in the 17th minute, Falcao headed in from a wonderfulThomas Lemar delivery, and Monaco was well and truly through.

With Dortmund down big, manager Thomas Tuchel brought on Ousmane Dembele in the 27th minute. Tuchel had come under fire for not starting either Dembele or Christian Pulisic. Nuri Sahin hit the post with a brilliant free-kick in the 14th minute, the best chance Dortmund had in the first half, and they would find a response soon after the halftime break.

Dembele was the creator as Dortmund hit back, finding a tiny window of opportunity on a pull-back to Marco Reus in the 51st minute as the German club made it 2-1. They still needed two more goals, however, to force extra time, and the mountain was too much to climb. Tuchel brought on Pulisic with 18 minutes to go, but he was powerless to change the tide. With 10 minutes to go, Valere Germain scored Monacos third to put the game to bed, and sending the aggregate score to 6-3. The goal means Monaco become the first team in Champions League history to score at least three goals in four straight knockout games.

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Like the Champions League today, the Europa League will be left with just four teams when the quarterfinalsconclude tomorrow with the second leg.

Manchester United is looking for Champions League qualification via the Premier League top four and still have a solid shot at doing so, but they can also lock that up by winning the Europa League. The Red Devils take a 1-1 aggregate back home against Belgian side Anderlecht, and you can bet Jose Mourinho will give this match everything hes got.

Defensively.

Mourinho, known already as a defend and counter proponent, will likely lean heavily on his defense as they look to advance to the semifinals. He shut down likely Premier League champions Chelsea last time out, doing so by controversially selecting to leave star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench along with Henrkih Mkhitaryan. The gamble worked out, and with Marcus Rashford up front, the Red Devils scored a 2-0 win with a different style going forward than they had previously shown with Ibra.

Will Mourinho revert to their previous tactics with Zlatan up front, or will he ride the hot hand against a Belgian side that has already seen off Zenit St. Petersburg and APOEL in these Europa League knockout stages?

Elsewhere, Lyon travels to Turkey to take on Besiktas in a tightly contested match. The French side took the opening leg 2-1 in stunning fashion, coming back from a 1-0 deficit with goals in the 83rd and 84th minute. Still, the match is up for grabs thanks to the away goal by Besiktas, and Lyon will do well to keep in a mentally stable state after the week they had. The French club saw their supporters forced out onto the field in the first leg against Besiktas after Turkish fans rained pyrotechnics down on them from the tier above, and then had their league match against Bastia over the weekend abandoned after players were attacked by opposing fans on the pitch. Now with an away trip to rowdy Turkey, it will be tough to keep in the right frame of mind.

Dutch giants Ajax have a visit to Schalke holding a 2-0 lead after keeping a clean sheet at home and watching Davy Klassen score twice. Schalke has been all over the map this season, so its a bit tough to predict who well seen from them at home on Thursday. Their last two Bundesliga matches alone have seen Schalkewin 4-1 over Wolfsburg followed by a 2-1 defeat to last-placed Darmstadt. Which Schalke side will show up with the odds stacked against them?

Finally, pesky Celta Vigo hits the road to visit Belgian club KAA Genk after a wild 3-2 first leg in Spain. Celta Vigo has been sparkling to watch at times this year, but their defensive abilities have let them down on more than one occasion (theyve conceded 51 La Liga goals this season, more than all but five Spanish teams), and if that happens again here, Genk can nick a win as they hold those two away goals.

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Harry Redknapp has signed on in an attempt to save Championship side Birmingham City overthe final three matches of the season.

The 70-year-old walks into a unique situation. The club was just outsidea playoff position when they shockingly fired Gary Rowett in mid-December. Gianfranco Zola took over, and the club entered a full-on nosedive, falling into a relegation battle after 13 losses compared to just two wins since.

Redknapp revealed he has a special clause in his contract: if Birmingham City is relegated this season, he wont be paid.

I have got a bonus. Its not a massive one, but I said if I dont keep you up, I dont want paying, he said.

Redknapp also revealed he had a similar clausein his contract with Derby County when he worked as a consultant at the end of last season, but instead of relegation it concerned promotion. Derby County was not promoted, after losing in the playoffsemifinal to Hull City despite nearly completing a three-goal comeback in the second leg.

Birmingham currently sits in 20th place, three points off the drop.Ive been in these sort of situations before, Redknapp said. Theyre always difficult, but Im ready for it.

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Borussia Dortmund might have good reason to blame their Champions League exit on the bomb attack that struck their team bus prior to the first leg against AS Monaco, but given recent reports, they might wish to consider themselves lucky.

According to German police who reconstructed the incident, its possible that things could have gone very differently.

If the explosions had detonated one second earlier, the entire bus would have been hit with a massive shock, an official from the German Federal Criminal Investigation Office told German publication Bild on Sunday.There would surely have been many serious injuries and possibly some deaths.

Thankfully, the only casualty was the broken wrist suffered by defender Marc Bartra, who is out four weeks after having surgery to repair the injury.

The bombs were found to be full of nails, with one imbedded in one of the buss seat headrests. They were reportedly built to a professional level, with materials and layouthintingtowards a knowledge of German military construction and schematics.

Letters have been sent claiming to be from Islamic extremistgroups that claim responsibility for the attack, but the German police have openly questioned the authenticity of those letters. The investigations have so far failed to publicly identify a lead on who may have been responsible for the bombing.

Before their second leg match in France, Monaco presented Dortmund with a plaque in a show of solidarity. The plaque depicted numerous photos of fans from both sides celebrating together, as Monaco showed its appreciation for the hospitality Dortmund fans showed them on the night of the attacks.

Social media was used to help Monaco fans stranded in Germany by the postponement of the first leg, and many Dortmund fans gave their rivals a place to stay for the night.

Associated Press

Barcelona looked for a second straight miracle comeback in the 2016/17 Champions League, but it was not to be as the stout Juventus defense held up under heavy fire for a 0-0 draw, seeing the Italians move into the semifinals with a 3-0 aggregate advantage.

The Spanish giants held much of the possession throughout the match, with Juventus happy to absorb the pressure. Georgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci lived up to their reputation as one of the worlds best central defensive partnerships, whileAlex Sandro and former Barcelona full-back Dani Alves did the work on the flanks.

Lionel Messi had the best early chance with a wide open shot near the penalty area on 20 minutes, but couldnt direct it goalwards, firing just wide right, leaving Luis Enrique baffled at the missed opportunity. There was a scary moment just before halftime when Messi went up for an aerial challenge and was undercut by Miralem Pjanic, landing square on his cheek. Messi recovered from his fall as his cheek began to bleed, and he returned for the second half with a bandage.

Juventus had opportunities as they built themselves into the game, with Juan Cuadrado proving the most dangerous. On the other end, Juventus defenders continued to usher the Barcelona attackers into wide areas of the box, forcing them to shoot from tight angles.

Sami Khedira was booked for hauling down Luis Suarez past the hour mark, meaning he is suspended for the semifinal first leg. As the final whistle blew, it marked an enormous 530 minutes since Juventus last conceded a goal in Champions League play, a 9th minute goal by Sevilla back in November.

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Mbappe scores again to send Monaco through to CL semis - ProSoccerTalk (blog)

Barcelona have another opportunity to make Champions League history on Wednesday as they look to mount a remarkable recovery in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Luis Enrique's men were dismantled in last week's first leg with Juventus, Paulo Dybala's double helping inspire the Turin club to a 3-0 win.

But Barca have good reason to be confident of becoming the first team to overturn a 3-0 deficit in the Champions League, having pulled off the largest comeback in the history of the competition in the previous round, beating Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 after a 4-0 first-leg loss.

Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund's first-leg meeting with Monaco lived up to the billing, as the Ligue 1 club emerged 3-2 winners as Kylian Mbappe enhanced his burgeoning reputation.

The teenager will aim to help Monaco to a first last-four appearance since 2004, when they were beaten in the final by Porto.

Dortmund have plenty of young talent of their own, with Ousmane Dembele sharing the spotlight with Mbappe as he found the net in the defeat at Signal Iduna Park. However, history is not on the German club's side, with all five of the previous teams to have claimed a 3-2 away win in the first leg of a knockout tie progressing to the next round.

Barcelona v Juventus

- Barcelona have scored at least three goals in seven of their last eight Champions League games atCamp Nou.

- Barcelona have reached the quarter-finals for the 10th consecutive season, the longest run in the history of the Champions League. However, they have been knocked out at that stage in two of the last three seasons.

- Juventus have won their last five games in the Champions League, the current longest run in the competition and the Bianconeri'sjoint-longest. They are one of two unbeaten teams this season alongside Real Madrid.

- Juventus are also the only team to have won all four of their Champions League away games this season (10 goals scored, 1 conceded), their best ever run of victories on the road in the competition.

- On top of that, Juventus have notconceded a goal for 441 minutes, also the current longest run in the competition. Sevilla's Nico Pareja was the last player to find the net against Juve back in November.

- Juventus have conceded fewer goals in the Champions League this season than any of the other seven sides still left in the competition (2 in 9 games). Both of those goals came from set-pieces.

Monaco vBorussiaDortmund

- Monaco can reach the semis of the Champions League for the fourth time after 1993-94, 1997-98 and 2003-04. No other French team has made the last four more than once.

- Monaco have won 70 per cent of their home games in the Champions League (21 out of 30). Among clubs to have hosted at least 30 games, only Real Madrid (76 per cent), Barcelona (73 per cent) andBayernMunich (71 per cent) have a better rate.

-BorussiaDortmund are the top scorers in this season's Champions League (27 goals in nine games), with 30 per cent of them coming in the final 15 minutes (8). Dortmund's games have produced more goals than any other team (40 - 27 for and 13 against).

- The first leg saw the first ever instance of two teenagers scoring in the same Champions League knockout game (OusmaneDembeleandKylianMbappe).

-Mbappeis the top scorer in this season's Champions League knockout stages with four goals in three games, while 21-year-old ThomasLemaris the top assist provider in the knockouts with three.

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Champions League: Juventus' formidable away record and magnificent Mbappe - Champions League in Opta numbers - Yahoo Sports