On the Pitch
Soccer Recap: MLS is back, Lionel Messi scores 600th career goal
Mar 6, 2018, 8:38 am
The 2018 MLS season kicked off on Saturday, including a nationally televised encounter between the Houston Dynamo and Atlanta United. Courtesy photo
There was plenty of soccer action last week throughout the world’s leagues. Stars like Leo Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Mohamed Salah can’t stop scoring while, on this side of the pond, international competition is in full swing with the CONCACAF Champions League and Copa Libertadores. This was the week in soccer:
English Premier League
Manchester City only needed one goal to defeat Chelsea, and are 16 points clear of rivals Manchester United. The Red Devils meanwhile outlasted Crystal Palace to come away with a 3-2 win. Brighton and Hove stunned Arsenal in a 2-1 home win, bringing up the talk of Arsene Wenger’s job back into the mainstream media. Burnley, Swansea, Tottenham, Watford, and Liverpool were the other winners of the weekend. Mohamed Salah scored in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Newcastle to pull even with Harry Kane (24) atop the golden boot table.
Top 5: Manchester City (78), Manchester United (62), Liverpool (60), Tottenham (58), Chelsea (53)
La Liga
FC Barcelona all but officially clinched their 25th La Liga title with a 1-0 home win over Atletico de Madrid. Separated by five points entering the day, Atletico needed a win to pull within two points of Barça and realistically keep their title hopes alive. The difference in the match was a masterful free kick taken by Lionel Messi, marking the 600th professional goal scored by the 30-year-old for club and country.
Real Madrid won 3-1 over Getafe with a brace by Cristiano Ronaldo, with the other goal coming from Gareth Bale. Valencia stays in 4th with a 2-0 win over Real Betis and Sevilla jumps back into the top five with a 2-0 home win of their own against Athletic Bilbao.
Top 5: FC Barcelona (69), Atletico Madrid (61), Real Madrid (54), Valencia (53), Sevilla (45)
Bundesliga
FC Bayern Munich continued their dominance with a 4-0 win over Freiburg - extending their run to 16 unbeaten in all competitions. Schalke moves up to second place with a 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin. Leipzig and Dortmund shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw and Frankfurt won 1-0 over Hannover 96. Bayer Leverkusen is fifth, they picked up a 2-1 road win at Wolfsburg.
Top 5: Bayern Munich (63), Schalke 04 (43), Borussia Dortmund (42), Eintracht Frankfurt (42), Bayer Leverkusen (41)
Ligue 1
Angel Di Maria led the way as leaders PSG won 2-0 at Troyes to extend their insurmountable lead at the top of the French league. Monaco remains in second place with a 2-1 home win over Bordeaux. Marseille drew 1-1 with Nates, Lyon did the same at Montpellier and Rennes took advantage of those two results to jump up to fifth with a 2-0 win at Amiens SC.
Top 5: Paris Saint-Germain (74), Monaco (60), Marseille (56), Lyon (51), Rennes (41)
Serie A
Only three matches took place this week before the rest were postponed. Fiorentina captain Davide Astori was found dead in his hotel room on Sunday, leaving many in Italy shocked. All of Sunday’s matches in Serie A were postponed. Clubs will pay respect with a moment of silence in this week’s Champions League and Europa League matches.
Of the encounters that took place on Saturday, SPAL picked up three points at Bologna, Paulo Dybala led Juventus to a win at Lazio and Roma picked up a 4-2 win at leaders Napoli.
Top 5: Napoli (69), Juventus (68), Roma (53), Lazio (52), Inter Milan (51)
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CONCACAF Champions League
The round of 16 has concluded and the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League is down to eight teams: Club America, Guadalajara, New York Red Bulls, Seattle Sounders FC, Tauro FC, Tigres UANL, Tijuana and Toronto FC. America, Guadalajara, and Toronto defended their first leg leads while Red Bulls and Tigres took care of business at home after tying in their opening matches. Tijuana drew at home but went through because of their away win in the first leg. Seattle Sounders overturned a one-goal deficit with an emphatic 4-0 home win over Santa Tecla. The biggest surprise was FC Dallas, who could not overturn a 1-0 first leg loss with their 3-2 home win, eliminated by Panamanian side Tauro FC on away goals.
The quarterfinals begin on Tuesday night with the first legs and will conclude with the second legs next week. There are three MLS vs. Liga MX matchups with Tijuana vs. NY Red Bulls, Seattle Sounders FC vs. Guadalajara and Toronto FC vs. Tigres.
Major League Soccer
The 2018 MLS season got underway on Saturday and there were plenty of surprises. Columbus Crew won the opening match 2-0 at defending champion Toronto FC. In Houston, the Dynamo had the win secured after the first 27 minutes - scoring four goals in the entire first half - as they beat Atlanta United 4-0 at home. LAFC won their inaugural match in a 1-0 road win at Seattle. Philadelphia, Vancouver, New York City FC and LA Galaxy also started matchday one with wins.
The Dynamo’s Alberth Elis and Philippe Senderos made MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week and Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera earned Coach of the Week honors. Houston is back at home on Saturday as they welcome Vancouver Whitecaps FC to BBVA Compass Stadium (5:00 p.m.).
Liga MX
Matchday 10 in Liga MX was highlighted by the nation’s biggest rivalry - Club America at Club Deportivo Guadalajara. The Clásico Nacional ended in a 1-1 draw with Jose de Jesus Godinez (Chivas) and Oribe Peralta (America) trading goals in the first half. Santos Laguna took advantage of that result to jump to the top of the standings after a 2-1 win at Necaxa. Leon got back to winning with a 3-0 home win in which Landon Donovan made another appearance in the last minutes. Tijuana, Morelia, Queretaro, Puebla, Toluca and Tigres UANL also picked up three points this week.
Off the field, an announcement was made Friday confirming reports that relegation would be paused. While this season will be unaffected, there will not be relegation in Liga MX for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons - allowing the league to expand to 20 total teams. The clubs earning promotion must meet certain financial and stadium requirements. On top of that, Mexican Soccer Federation President Decio De Maria announced he will step down following the 2018 FIFA World Cup and former Club America President Yon De Luisa will replace him.
Top 5: Santos Laguna (20), Club America (18), Toluca (18), Tigres (15), Puebla (17)
Copa Libertadores
It was not a good start for South American powerhouses as the Copa Libertadores group stage got underway. Brazilian giant Santos lost 2-0 in Peru to Real Garcilaso while Argentina’s Independiente - the winningest club in Libertadores with 7 titles - was humbled 1-0 at Venezuelan club Deportivo Lara. Boca Juniors was held scoreless at Alianza Lima. Delfin-Bolivar and Santa Fe vs. Emelec both ended in 1-1 draws while Palmeiras won 3-0 at Junior.
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SheBelieves Cup
Top international sides in Women’s soccer are fighting for bragging rights in the 2018 SheBelieves Cup. On Thursday, England defeated France 4-1 while the USA defeated Germany 1-0 in Columbus. On Sunday, the cup resumed in New Jersey where USA and France drew 1-1 while Germany tied 2-2 with England. The competition concludes Wednesday as France faces Germany and USA hosts England in Orlando. France is the defending champion but will need a win and help to repeat, the U.S. women won the inaugural tournament two years ago.
Upcoming matches (All Times CT):
Tuesday, Mar. 6:
1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Paris Saint Germain vs. Real Madrid (FS1)
1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Liverpool vs. Porto (FS2)
7:00 p.m. - [CONCACAF Champions League] Club America vs. Tauro FC (go90/Univision Deportes)
9:00 p.m. - [CONCACAF Champions League] Tijuana vs. New York Red Bulls (go90/Univision Deportes)
Wednesday, Mar. 7:
1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Tottenham vs. Juventus (FS1)
1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Champions League] Manchester City vs. FC Basel (FS2)
6:00 p.m. - [SheBelieves Cup] USWNT vs. England (ESPNews)
7:00 p.m. - [CONCACAF Champions League] Toronto FC vs. Tigres UANL (go90/Univision Deportes)
9:00 p.m. - [CONCACAF Champions League] Seattle Sounders FC vs. Guadalajara (go90/Univision Deportes)
Thursday, Mar. 8:
12:00 p.m. - [Europa League] A.C. Milan vs. Arsenal (FS2)
2:00 p.m. - [Europa League] RB Leipzig vs. Zenit (FS2)
Friday, Mar. 9:
1:30 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Mainz vs. Schalke 04 (FS2)
1:45 p.m. - [Serie A] AS Roma vs. Torino (beIN Sports)
Saturday, Mar. 10:
6:00 a.m. - [La Liga] Eibar vs. Real Madrid (beIN Sports)
6:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Manchester United vs. Liverpool (NBC Sports)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Bayern Munich vs. Hamburg (FS1)
8:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Hannover vs. Augsburg (FS2)
9:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Newcastle vs. Southampton (NBC Sports)
10:00 a.m. - [Ligue 1] Paris Saint-Germain vs. Metz (beIN Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace (NBC Sports)
11:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Leverkusen vs. Monchengladbach (FS2)
1:45 p.m. - [La Liga] Malaga vs. FC Barcelona (beIN SPORTS)
2:30 p.m. - [MLS] Real Salt Lake vs. LAFC (Univision)
Sunday, Mar. 11:
8:30 a.m. - [Premier League] Arsenal vs. Watford (NBC Sports)
9:00 a.m. - [Serie A] Juventus vs. Udinese (beIN Sports)
9:30 a.m. - [Bundesliga] Stuttgart vs. RB Leipzig (FS1)
11:00 a.m. - [Premier League] Bournemouth vs. Tottenham (NBC Sports)
12:00 p.m. - [Bundesliga] Dortmund vs. Frankfurt (FS1)
2:00 p.m. - [MLS] Atlanta United vs. D.C. United (ESPN)
2:45 p.m. - [Serie A] Inter Milan vs. Napoli (beIN Sports)
Monday, Mar. 12:
3:00 p.m. - [Premier League] Stoke City vs. Manchester City (NBC Sports)
3:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Alaves vs. Real Betis (beIN Sports)
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Adding a player of Kevin Durant’s caliber was too valuable an opportunity for the Houston Rockets to pass up, even though it meant moving on from Jalen Green just four seasons after they drafted him second overall.
Durant was officially acquired from Phoenix on Sunday in a complicated seven-team transaction that sent Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns and brought Clint Capela back to Houston from the Hawks.
General manager Rafael Stone is thrilled to add the future Hall of Famer, who will turn 37 in September, to a team which made a huge leap last season to earn the second seed in the Western Conference.
Asked Monday why he wanted to add Durant to the team, Stone smiled broadly before answering.
“He’s Kevin Durant,” Stone said. “He’s just — he’s really good. He’s super-efficient. He had a great year last year. He’s obviously not 30 anymore, but he hasn’t really fallen off and we just think he has a chance to really be impactful for us.”
But trading Green to get him was not an easy decision for Stone, Houston’s general manager since 2020.
“Jalen’s awesome, he did everything we asked,” Stone said. “He’s a wonderful combination of talent and work ethic along with being just a great human being. And any time that you have the privilege to work with someone who is talented and works really hard and is really nice, you should value it. And organizationally we’ve valued him tremendously, so yeah very hard.”
Green was criticized for his up-and-down play during the postseason when the Rockets were eliminated by the Warriors in seven games in the first round. But Green had improved in each of his four seasons in Houston, leading the team in scoring last season and playing all 82 games in both of the past two seasons.
Pressed for details about why Green's time was up in Houston, Stone wouldn't get into specifics.
“It’s the NBA and you can only do trades if a certain amount of money goes out and a certain amount comes in and there’s some positional overlap or at least overlap in terms of on ball presence,” he said. “And so that’s what the deal required.”
In Durant, the Rockets get a veteran of almost two decades who averaged 26.6 points and six rebounds a game last season and has a career average of 27.2 points and seven rebounds.
Houston loves the veteran experience and presence that Durant brings. Stone noted that the team had arranged for some of its players to work out with him in each of the past two offseasons.
“His work ethic is just awesome,” Stone said. “The speed at which he goes, not in a game … but the speed at which he practices and the intensity at which he practices is something that has made him great over the years and it started when he was very young. So of all the things that I hope rubs off, that’s the main one I think is that practice makes perfect. And I think one of the reasons he’s had such an excellent career is because of the intensity with which he works day in day out.”
Durant is a 15-time All-Star and four-time scoring champion, who was the Finals MVP twice. The former Texas Longhorn is one of eight players in NBA history to score at least 30,000 points and he won NBA titles in 2017 and 2018 with the Warriors.
Now he’ll join a team chasing its first NBA title since winning back-to-back championships in 1994-95.
“Everything has to play out, but we do — we like the fit,” Stone said. “We think it works well. We think he will add to us and we think we will help him.”