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Morning Espresso, 3.13: Double touch dooms Atleti, Vancouver eliminates Monterrey
Welcome in for another edition of the Morning Espresso from the SDH Network, brought to you by Oglethorpe University, Atlanta's premier undergraduate learning experience and soccer powerhouse.
Awful way for Atleti to be eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League yesterday. Losing in a penalty shootout is always brutal, even more so against your eternal rivals after winning on the night (Connor Gallagher's 1st minute goal set the table for an epic night). But losing due to a rarely seen situation that is still not 100% clear after watching it almost 100 times is really rough.
UEFA said in-ball technology was not used to determine the double touch from Julian Alvarez on his penalty attempt. If additional cameras other than the broadcast cameras were used, I hope UEFA will walk the public through the process because the decision came very quickly in a situation that to the normal eye was not clear cut. And the bigger issue coming from this is one of fairness. A goalkeeper intentionally coming off their line early to make a save results in a retake, a kicker accidentally slipping and hitting the ball twice unintentionally results in a miss... this doesn't make sense and isn't equal. Time for IFAB to fix this in my opinion.
Lille took the lead early over Dortmund, but the Germans held their nerve and found two second-half goals to advance to the quarterfinals. They're joined by Arsenal and Aston Villa, who handled their business comfortably on the night.
The first legs of the quarterfinals will take place on April 8-9, second legs take place one week later. In the first leg, PSG will host Aston Villa, Arsenal will host Real Madrid, Barcelona will host Dortmund, and Bayern will host Inter.
Vancouver went to Mexico and eliminated Monterrey after a 2-2 draw on the night that saw them overcome a dubious penalty given and converted by Sergio Ramos, and copious amounts of additional stoppage time given. The Whitecaps advanced on away goals with USMNT striker Brian White scoring the crucial goal from the bench. It's even more impressive that Vancouver did this with White coming off the bench and Ryan Gauld and Jayden Nelson unavailable.
LA Galaxy won their first competitive match of 2025 handily, beating Herediano 4-1 to advance to the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals. Club America thrashed Chivas 4-0 to also advance. Miami is in Jamaica tonight to determine the final quarterfinalist, the Herons have a 2-0 lead. Lionel Messi made the trip, but we'll see if he makes the field.
Congrats to ESPN legend Bob Ley for being named the recipient of the 2025 Colin Jose Media Award by the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Bob covered soccer throughout his time at ESPN from 1979-2015, 10 World Cups in total, the growth of MLS, and so many other critical moments in U.S. soccer history.
Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago