The first leg of the Champions League round of 16 matches finished last night with some shocking results and breathtaking games setting the tone for this edition of the elite European competition. Etihad was the venue for a pulsating encounter between Manchester City and AS Monaco with the home side emerging victorious 5-3 in an eight-goal extravaganza.
In the other game which took place on Tuesday, Atletico Madrid completed a routine victory over Bayer Leverkusen with a 4-2 score line.
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Sevilla continued their good run under Jorge Sampaoli with a 2-1 home win over English champions, Leicester City. A late away goal by Jamie Vardy has kept the tie alive for the Foxes. Whereas Juventus succeeded in keeping yet another clean sheet and scoring two crucial away goals in their 2-0 win over FC Porto.
Let's take a look at the five moments that caught the eye in the Champions League this midweek:
#1 A contender for goal of the season by El Tigre
Everyone was expecting a tough encounter between the two sides that have established a reputation of free-flowing football under their able managers. And exactly that was on display as an eight-goal wild game ensued at City's home turf.
Radamel Falcao was the pick of the lot as he scored a sensational brace on his return to the land where his reputation got a hit during loan spells at Manchester United and Chelsea.
While his first one was a brilliant diving header, his second can be best described as the purest form of art. A delightful lob over the standing Willy Caballero is not a sort of goal you'll associate with Falcao. He left his man, John Stones for dead before attempting the most difficult option that was in front of him.
To chip is a difficult thing to do, to attempt that in front of a standing custodian is a skill not many will even think of. It just shows that the Falcao of Atletico Madrid is back with a bang.
#2 Atletico strikers gaining form when it matters the most
Besides Antoine Griezmann, the Colchoneros had struggled for goals this season with the pair of Kevin Gameiro and Fernando Torres not delivering consistently in any competition. But against Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid surprised everyone by opting to play an open game in an away tie and emerge victorious, scoring four goals along the way.
This was the first time Atletico scored four goals away from home in Europe since last season's group stage.
The best news that derived from the 4-2 win was the goal scoring feat of all three of Atleti strikers. Griezmann scored a smart goal due to the trickery of Kevin Gameiro whereas the former Sevilla man got on the scoresheet with a well-taken penalty.
Fernando Torres came in and scored a powerful header to complete the demolition of Leverkusen who could have conceded at least 6 goals. This was El Nino's fourth goal in last five appearances in all competitions while Saul Jimenez was the other goal scorer as he scored yet another delightful curler against a German team.
#3 Leicester's away goal keeps their European dream alive
Sevilla dominated the Foxes from the minute go and put Leicester on the back-foot with a plethora of chances. Kasper Schmeichel literally saved Leicester from ending the tie in the first half as Jorge Sampaoli's men dismantled the English champions with well-crafted chances.
Pablo Sarabia and Joaquin Correa gave Sevilla a well deserved 2-0 lead and the Spanish giants were already dreaming of the quarterfinals.
Then a sight that was so peculiar in the Premier League last season reemerged as Jamie Vardy scored for Leicester in the 73rd minute to give Foxes a lifeline to take something with them to the King Power stadium for the second leg. An away goal can prove to be the catalyst for Leicester's resurgence after a rather disappointing defence of their league title.
On the other hand, Sevilla were left to rue their missed chances whereas Vardy scored a typical Leicester goal which was reminiscent of last season's exploits which open the way for one last miracle from Ranieri's wonder boys.
#4 Allegri's substitutions won the game for Juventus
A cynical 74 seconds from Alex Telles meant Porto had to play two-thirds of the game with 10 men. The Portuguese giants had decided to stop Juventus from scoring a crucial away goal and they were doing a fine job till Telles' crazy tackles forced them to make a substitution by taking off a striker, Andre Silva for a defender.
After the sending off, Juventus could not turn the momentum in their way as sloppy play from the visitors meant Iker Casillas had very little to do for Porto. With just 20 minutes to go, Allegri had to do something which would give Bianconeri an advantage going into the second leg.
Both his substitutions, Marco Pjaca and Dani Alves proved to be masterstrokes as both got on the scoresheet and helped Juventus to a 2-0 away victory over FC Porto.The manager was criticised by some corners of the media for his decision to substitute the in-form Juan Cuadrado when he was doing well and also the absence of Leonardo Bonucci due to a conflict between the two.
But with a solid win under his belt, no one can raise questions over Allegri's decision making. Juventus have not conceded a goal on home turf and it won't be an overstatement to say that Juventus have one foot in the last eight of the competition.
#5 A stark difference between the two custodians in the Manchester City versus Monaco clash
Despite the accolades that both these sides received for their brilliant incessant attacking play, the defence for the two sides was questionable. In the back line for both the teams, Willy Caballero and Danijel Subasic had different fortunes.
While City's new number one, Caballero recovered from a mistake in the first goal to save a penalty from Radamel Falcao, Subasic made a schoolboy error to let Aguero equalise for the second time and start a comeback for Guardiola's men.
The former Malaga man made some crucial saves in the second half as City completed an 11-minute turnaround whereas Subasic could not recover from his error for Aguero's first of the night. Ahead of these custodians, both the side's defences had a horrible game.
Though they provided one of the best games in the Champions League this season, a leaky defence of this sort won't help them much ahead in the competition.
