THE SOCCER REPORT
Champions League returns with PSG, Spurs and Real Madrid wins
Feb 19, 2019, 6:16 am
THE SOCCER REPORT
The theme of this week's actions was international competition with the return of the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League and the third round of the Copa Libertadores of South America. Concacaf teams are about to join in on the action with the start of the 2019 Concacaf Champions League, in which the Houston Dynamo will play in Guatemala City on Tuesday night.
Round of 32 - first leg results:
Scoring leader: 17 - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) / Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Assists leader: 10 - Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC)
In Spain's top-flight, FC Barcelona continues to make room between themselves and the field in the title race. Leo Messi and co. collected three points while Real Madrid slipped 2-1 to Girona, allowing Atletico Madrid to jump back up to second with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano. The rest of the top six remained the same.
Top six: 1. FC Barcelona (54), 2. Atlético Madrid (47), 3. Real Madrid (45), 4. Sevilla (37), 5. Getafe (36), 6. Alaves (36)
Scoring leader: 22 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Assists leader: 10 - Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Scoring leader: 14 - Luka Jović (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Assists leader: 10 - Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
Juventus 3-0 Frosinone | Ronaldo and Dybala Help Juventus Beat Frosinone | Serie Awww.youtube.com
Cristiano Ronaldo can't stop scoring, adding one more to his season tally in Juve's 3-0 win over Frosinone. Milan picked up a 3-1 win over Atalanta to solidify their place in the top four. Inter Milan and Roma also picked up three points this week.
Scoring leader: 19 - Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Assists leader: 8 - Suso (A.C. Milan)
Marseille made the biggest jump in the standings this week by swapping places with Montpellier and cracking the top four. As for the champs, PSG continues to roll behind the league's top scorer in Mbappé.
Top six: 1. PSG (62), 2. Lille (50), 3. Lyon (46), 4. Marseille (40), 5. Saint-Étienne (40), 6. Montpellier (38)
Scoring leader: 19 - Kylian Mbappé (PSG)
Assists leader: 8 - Nicolas Pepe (Lille) / Angel Di Maria (PSG) / Kenny Lala (Strasbourg)
Top three: 1. PSV Eindhoven (57), 2. Ajax (53), 3. Feyenoord (42)
Top three: 1. Genk (57), 2. Club Brugge (49), 3. Standard Liège (46)
Top three: 1. Porto (54), 2. Benfica (53), 3. Braga (49)
Top three: 1. Celtic (60), 2. Rangers (52), 3. Aberdeen (47)
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A welcome addition to tomorrow's shirts! 👀 #SCCL2019 #ForeverOrange https://t.co/1h8lCn4Xx0— Houston Dynamo (@Houston Dynamo) 1550534098.0
While five MLS teams take part in the Champions League, the rest continue their preparations ahead of the league's opening weekend in two weeks. FC Cincinatti will be the new expansion team that joins the league in 2019.
Top eight: 1. Monterrey (17), 2. Tigres UANL (16), 3. Leon (14), 4. Chivas Guadalajara (14), 5. Necaxa (11), 6. Santos (11), 7. Pachuca (11), 8. Club Tijuana (10)
Scoring leader: 7 - Rogelio Funes Mori (Monterrey)
Assists leader: 5 - Angel Mena (Cruz Azul)
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Third round - first leg matchups:
Top four: 1. Racing Club (45), 2. Defensa y Justicia (45), 3. Boca Juniors (35), 4. Atletico Tucuman (32)
Scoring leader: 15 - Lisandro Lopez (Racing)
Assists leader: 7 - Walter Montillo (Tigre)
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Tuesday, Feb. 19
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Liverpool vs. Bayern Munich (TNT/Galavision)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Lyon vs. Barcelona (Unimas/Univision Deportes)
9:00 p.m. - [Concacaf Champions League] CD Guastatoya vs. Houston Dynamo (Yahoo! Sports/Univision Deportes)
Wednesday, Feb. 20
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Atletico Madrid vs. Juventus (TNT/UniMas/Univision Deportes)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Schalke 04 vs. Man City (B/R Live/Galavision)
Thursday, Feb. 21
12:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Arsenal vs. BATE (B/R Live/Galavision)
12:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Valencia vs. Celtic (B/R Live/Univision Deportes)
12:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Villarreal vs. Sporting CP (B/R Live/UniMas)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Chelsea vs. Malmo (B/R Live/UniMas)
2:00 p.m. - [UEFA Europa League] Inter Milan vs. Rapid Vienna (B/R Live/Galavision)
Friday, Feb. 22
1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Werder Bremen vs. VfB Stuttgart (FS2)
1:45 p.m. - [Premier League] West Ham vs. Fulham (NBC Sports)
Saturday, Feb. 23
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayern Munich vs. Hertha BSC Berlin (FS2)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Mönchengladbach vs. VfL Wolfsburg (Univision Deportes)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Burnley vs. Tottenham (NBC Sports)
9:15 a.m. - [La Liga] Sevilla vs. FC Barcelona (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Leicester vs. Crystal Palace (NBC)
Sunday, Feb. 24
8:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Manchester United vs. Liverpool (NBC Sports)
9:15 a.m. - [La Liga] Atletico Madrid vs. Villarreal (beIN Sports)
10:30 a.m. - [Carabao Cup FInal] Chelsea vs. Manchester City (ESPN+)
11:00 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen (FS2)
1:45 p.m. - [La Liga] Levante vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
One of the main areas of improvement for the Texans this season, has been the running game with the addition of Joe Mixon.
Mixon rushed for 100 yards or more in 5 of his first 6 games with the team. But unfortunately for Houston, Mixon hasn't been nearly as effective recently.
When looking at his recent numbers, Mixon has failed to rush for more than 46 yards in 3 of his last 5 games. Posting only 26 rushing yards against Miami on Sunday.
With this in mind, is the state of Houston's run game a major concern, especially when the playoffs begin?
Don't miss the video above as ESPN Houston's Joel Blank and special guest Barry Laminack share their thoughts.