Talking points from Europe football this week

5) Borussia Dortmund down Tottenham 3-0 — It was a match between the second in Germany against the second in England. And the Germans with their breadth taking counterattacking brand of football blew Spurs to pieces to all but end their hopes for European glory. Only a miracle would be needed to make Spurs through to the next round and keeping in mind the kind of form Dortmund is mind, they are the runaway favourites for the Europa League this season.

4) Kops delighted with Klopp — Jurgen Klopp continued to weave his magic on Liverpool and this time Manchester United had to bear the brunt as goals from Daniel Sturridge and Roberto Firmino ensured a 2-0 win. David De Gea was once again the saviour for his club and managed to atleast keep a respectable score. Firmino was absolutely brilliant with his passing, dextrous in possession and scored a wonderful goal to end Liverpool’s recent reverses against the Red Devils.

3) Zlatan too much to handle for Chelsea — Zlatan once again played spoilsport for Chelsea as he provided an assist and scored the winner to knock Chelsea out of the competition for the second year running. Perhaps with revenge in mind for last year’s red card at the same stage of the competition, Zlatan was a cut above everyone else and showed why he is considered among the best players of this generation. Add to that he has never won the UEFA Champions  League and his contract with PSG ends this summer, perhaps this may be his best chance to claim the elusive prize after all.

2) La Liga teams continue to dominate — La Liga continued to reign supreme in European competitions as Real Madrid and Villarreal chalked out wins to stamp their supremacy in their respective competitions. Real Madrid edged AS Roma 2-0 to win 4-0 on aggregate and move on to the next round. Cristiano Ronaldo was again impressive finishing with a goal and an assist. Roma on the other hand wasted lots of chances and Madrid made them pay for their mistakes. Villarreal on the other hand won 2-0 against Bundesliga outfit Bayern Leverkusen with youngster Cedric Bakambu scoring  a brace to put the Yellow Submarine in the driver’s seat going into the return leg.

1) Bernabeu gives standing ovation to Totti — A career spanning 25 years, 300 goals and 189 assists in 751 games and just a single club. Francesco Totti is a living legend and considered one of the greatest Italian players of all times. He is the top goalscorer for Roma and the second highest goal scorer in Serie A history. With such an impressive career, he truly deserved a ovation and he rightly got one from the Santiago Bernabeu which incidentally might have been his last Champions League appearance. He is also the oldest goalscorer in the history of the competition. Every football fan salutes this genius No. 10 for all his contribution towards the game of football.