Opinion

The matches are coming thick and fast for Manchester United now and next up they face FC Rostov in the Europa League.  The first leg ended 1-1 in Russia, on what was a terrible pitch and Jose Mourinho will be delighted the match is being played at Old Trafford, for more reasons than the quality of the playing surface.

Italian boss Antonio Conte has enjoyed a very strong start to his career as Blues boss. The London side are running away with the Premier League title, having established a ten point lead at the top of the table.

Up until February, Bundesliga newbies RB Leipzig were in the running to pull off one of the biggest shocks in the history of German football by winning the top flight title, despite achieving promotion from 2. Bundesliga for the first time in their history just last season.

Aberdeen extended their lead over Rangers FC to nine points with a victory against Motherwell FC on Saturday 11th March, which leaves them on the brink of securing second place in the Scottish Premier League and with it a place in next season’s Europa League tournament.

Paris Saint-Germain were undoubtedly confident going into the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 clash with La Liga heavyweights Barcelona earlier this week. They had produced an incredible 4-0 victory in the first leg and, given that no side had ever overturned a four goal deficit in the competition, their place in the quarter-final seemed to be all but guaranteed.

Roma began March with the opportunity to keep things interesting at the top of Serie A and win both the Coppa Italia and the Europa League.  However, three matches into the third month of the year and Roma’s season is in danger of derailing quickly, following three disappointing results.

As 2014 and 2015’s MLS Cup victors, LA Galaxy and Portland Timbers are guaranteed to put on a brilliant display when the two sides clash for the 17th time in their history on Sunday, March 12th.

Minnesota United were given a harsh introduction to Major League Soccer in their inaugural game in the United States’ top division. Despite the stick that MLS often gets for its lack of pace and skill, Portland Timbers proved that there is still plenty of quality on display in the competition.

Having won the Premier League title in sensational fashion last season, the following season was always going to be tough for Leicester City.  No one expected them to stage a successful defence of their title or win the Champions League and although they remain in the latter, with a second leg to come against Sevilla, it is extremely unlikely they will win the competition.

2017 has been a dreadful year for Liverpool and a season which promised a great deal in the latter stages of 2016 is in danger of becoming a shambles.  With the club, out of both domestic cup competitions, the only thing Jurgen Klopp’s team must fight for is the Premier League and they are in real danger of missing out on the top four.  Not only is there own form a concern but that of Manchester United must be a worry.

The biggest managerial sacking of the season took place this week, as Leicester City parted ways with Claudio Ranieri.  The club have been struggling in the Premier League and based on their position in the table alone, the move is not surprising.  However, considering what the Italian achieved last season in winning the Premier League title, surely he deserved the opportunity to try and keep the team in the Premier League and possibly make the quarter-final of the Champions League?

2016 should have been Toronto FC’s year. They did everything right, but fell right at the last hurdle.

West Brom boss Tony Pulis has been heavily criticised during his football career. However, he has been relatively successful at every Premier League club he has managed.

SSC Napoli - Atalanta Bergamo 25/02/2017 19:00

• SSC Napoli are unbeaten in all of their last 14 matches in Serie A

Three goals against Manchester City took Monaco’s tally for the season to 111 goals in all competitions. That feat saw them leapfrog second-placed Barcelona, who have scored 109 times so far this season, as the best goalscoring side in Europe’s top five leagues - the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1.

In the early kick-off in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, Premier League Burnley host National League side Lincoln City at Turf Moor.

Should we have expected anything different? Arsenal travelled to the Allianz Arena for the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 match against Bayern Munich, in the hope of returning to London with the tie in the balance.  However, having started the game well and equalising on 30 minutes, an astonishing second half display left Arsenal with a mountain to climb at the Emirates and Arsene Wenger facing increased calls for his head.

The last time Barcelona failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League was back in 2007 but ten years later, there is a good chance they are going to be eliminated from the tournament before the last eight.  There isn’t a single team who deserves their place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition on reputation alone and Barcelona’s performance last night, was one of a team whose reputation is now in question.

Manchester City recorded a 2-0 win at Bournemouth on Monday night to move up to second in the Premier League table. A key factor in the result was that the Citizens kept a second clean sheet in two games with Argentinian backup goalkeeper Willy Caballero preferred to Claudio Bravo.

Aberdeen, Hearts of Midlothian and Hibernian sit joint third in the list of most Scottish top flight title victories, having each won the competition four times since Scottish football began back in 1890.