UCL last-16 draw, ex-Spain chief guilty and MLS opening weekend
Kick your Monday off with all the news from this past weekend
Good morning and happy Monday!
This weekend brought with it more action from Europe’s top leagues, where the title race in Italy remains particularly tight after Inter Milan’s win and Napoli’s surprise defeat.
Over in the Premier League, the title race appears to be all but over after another emphatic Liverpool win.
At the same time, the Champions League came into sharper focus after the round of 16 draw brought with it a series of salivating clashes. And a new MLS season got off the ground this weekend to the delight of U.S. fans.
For those stories — and much more — here’s a roundup of this weekend’s action:
UCL: Heavyweights set to clash in round of 16
The Champions League round of 16 draw served up a Madrid derby, a German classic and a rare meeting between Liverpool and PSG.
Much to the delight of fans (but not so much some big clubs), the competition got a series of heavyweight clashes following Friday’s draw.
Defending champion Real Madrid’s reward for eliminating Manchester City last week in the knockout playoffs was a twin-derby clash against Atletico Madrid, the team it beat in the final in 2014 and 2016.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich was paired with Bayer Leverkusen — the Bundesliga leader against its defending champion — while Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain have never met in knockout round of either the Champions League or the old European Cup.
Here’s a complete list of round of 16 matchups, which start March 4.
Spain: Former FA president found guilty in unwanted kiss incident
Former Spanish FA boss Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexually assaulting player Jenni Hermoso for kissing her after the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.
Rubiales escaped prison time (prosecutors has pushed for it), but was fined $10,400 on Thursday in Spain’s National Court. He was also ordered not to get within 200 yards of Hermoso or communicate with her for a year.
Rubiales, who plans to appeal the ruling, was cleared of the charge of coercion for trying to downplay the kiss on the lips of Hermoso during the awards ceremony after the final in Sydney.
The kiss sparked global outrage and marred the celebrations of Spain’s first Women’s World Cup title.
During the high-profile trial that lasted two weeks, Rubiales said Hermoso consented to the kiss. She denied it.
MLS: Opening weekend delivers plenty of goals
Telasco Segovia scored the tying goal on an assist by Lionel Messi in the 10th minute of stoppage time as Inter Miami played New York City FC to a 2-2 draw in their MLS opener on Saturday night.
On his second assist of the night, Messi, last season’s MVP, hit a through ball to Segovia, who in his MLS debut finished with a powerful shot from the right side of the box into the bottom left corner.
Inter Miami had played much of the second half down a goal. NYCFC’s Alonso Martinez got an easy one past Oscar Ustari after Inter Miami’s Jordi Alba mistakenly made a pass directly to Martinez to put New York up 2-1 in the 55th minute.
“He’s like a kid playing, and he doesn’t want to lose,” Inter Miami coach Javier Mascherano said of Messi.
Click here for all the results from the league’s opening weekend.
In other news: Inter Milan surpassed Napoli, now winless in four matches, atop the Serie A table this weekend after the Partenopei fell at Como 2-1 on Sunday. Inter defeated Genoa 1-0 at home on Saturday via a Lautaro Martinez goal 12 minutes from time. Napoli host Inter this Saturday. Meanwhile, Fiorentina striker Moise Kean was diagnosed with a head injury after collapsing on the field during a Serie A match on Sunday. Kean had been hit in the face and received treatment a few minutes earlier before returning and falling down to the grass after colliding with opposing players from Hellas Verona. It’s the second time that a Fiorentina player has collapsed this season, after Edoardo Bove lost consciousness in December, was placed in a medically induced coma and then had a heart defibrillator implanted. … Following a 2-0 win at the home against Manchester City on Sunday, Liverpool moved 11 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the standings and all but wrapped up the title. First-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai gave the Reds the win. … Japan's better goal difference means that the United States must win Wednesday's game to defend their SheBelieves Cup title, while Japan would be crowned with a win or a draw. The Americans put themselves in contention after defeating Colombia 2-0 on Friday and edging Australia 2-1 on Sunday.