Hello Rank Squad!
It's time for the Champions League Takeaway - an immediate review of everything that went down in the Champions League this week as we had our first round of quarter final matches. Every matchweek, we're going to be ranking the three key takeaways from each of the games played that week, and looking at the games through that Ranks FC lens, to give you a sense of everything that we learned from each game.
We start with Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Chelsea at the Bernabeu, where Frank Lampard's Blues lacked real dynamism, and the spark and trickery of Vini and Valverde made them pay. We try to find some positives for Chelsea too, but ultimately this one felt like a bridge too far for a team lost with where they are right now.
Then in Part 2, we head for Milan, where Napoli were once again quashed as the Rossoneri came out on top in an all-Italian affair. We talk about the power of San Siro, Napoli's nightmare evening in the North, and Milan's refusal to kill the game off - will that cost them in Naples? Three B's headline Benfica 0-2 Inter, where Bastoni's long passing is given its due credit, Benfica's wilting under the lights is discussed in terms of fatigue and experience, and Barella's return to Europe's top tier of midfielders is heralded - he remains Inter's big-game Mr. Reliable. Finally we turn our attention to Manchester, to the most impressive performance of all 8, where City's intensity made Bayern melt in the Manchester malaise, the Barnsley Beckenbauer John Stones ascended to the throne of his namesake against his old club, and Dayot Upamecano had an evening we're sure he'd love to forget.
It's Ranks!
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The Ranks FC 23/24 Awards & The Season's Best Stories
Ranking Major Transfer Dilemmas This Summer
Champions League Takeaway: Madrid Leave It Late & Dortmund Make It Great
Ranking the European Team of the Season
Champions League Takeaway: Dortmund Stun PSG & Madrid Held in Munich
Ranking the Premier League Team of the Year
Ranking the Final Four in the Champions League, Europa League & Conference League
Champions League Takeaway: Premier League Catastrophe, Reyes de Europa, Lucho's PSG Remontada & BVB Stun Atleti
Ranking Breakout Stars of This Season
Champions League Takeaway: Xavi Silences Lucho, Dortmund Stay Alive, Bayern's Experience Tells & Another Madrid-City Classic
Rúben Amorim: The Next Liverpool Manager?
Ranking Rule Changes That Would Improve Football
Ranking the Best Wingers in Europe
USMNT Drop Another Dos a Cero on Mexico (Postbox Excerpt)
Ranking the Most Dramatic Finishes To This Season
Manchester United End Klopp's Quadruple Dream (Postbox Excerpt)
Champions League Takeaway: Penalty Delight for Arsenal & Atléti, Rolls Reus Returns & Barça's Youth Injection
Ranking the Greatest European Goalscorers Ever
Champions League Takeaway: Madrid Edge Leipzig, City's Training Day, Bayern Breathe Again & Bossman Mbappé
Ranking Players Who Could Quit the Premier League
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