At 34, Olivier Giroud’s athleticism is supposed to be waning.

Supposed to be waning.

The striker scored a spectacular overhead kick in the 68th minute of Chelsea’s Champions League last-16 bout with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, securing a huge 1-0 away win for his club.

His acrobatic effort was initially ruled out for offside but the decision was overturned following a video review because Atleti’s Mario Hermoso – rather than Blues midfielder Mason Mount – was found to have made the telling touch to Giroud.

Diego Simeone’s starting XI caused some surprise. Angel Correa, Joao Felix, Thomas Lemar, and Luis Suarez were all picked in a seemingly attacking lineup from the notoriously conservative Atleti coach, but Thomas Tuchel’s team was more positive in its approach.

Chelsea’s likeliest inroads in the first half were down the flanks, with Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mount displaying a good understanding on the right-hand side and Marcos Alonso delivering dangerous crosses toward Giroud from the left. But the two sides went in goalless at the break.

The English outfit had less joy out wide in the second period and the match seemed to be petering out into a respectable 0-0 draw at Bucharest’s Arena Nationala – Atletico Madrid’s makeshift home due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

That was, however, until Giroud showed a flagrant disregard for gravity and dealt Simeone his first “home” defeat in the Champions League knockout rounds. It was yet another sublime finish for the Frenchman’s ever-fattening highlight reel.

“We know the importance of the away goal in European cups, which is why I was very pleased to help the team to win the game,” Giroud said post-match, as quoted by The Guardian’s Simon Burnton.

He added: “I just tried to focus on hitting the ball well. I was pleased to see the ball in the back of the net, but to be honest, I had no clue about being offside or not.”

Atletico Madrid didn’t muster a shot on target and sat deep for most of the 90 minutes. So much for that attack-minded XI.

The second leg will be contested at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge on March 17.

Andrea Pirlo lamented Juventus’ lackluster performance against FC Porto on Wednesday, claiming his men gifted the Portuguese side a 2-1 victory in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash.

Juve inexplicably conceded in the opening seconds of each half, making a calamitous error in possession at the beginning of the match before falling asleep defensively to open the second stanza.

Federico Chiesa scored a potentially precious away goal late to give the Italian side hope heading home for the second leg, but Pirlo was not impressed with his team’s toothless showing.

“The approach was wrong from the first minute,” the rookie manager said, according to Agence France-Presse. “When you concede a goal like this, it’s normal that fear sets in, you lack a bit of certainty.

“Porto are good at closing down and after that goal, it was much more difficult. We served them the match they wanted on a silver platter. Fortunately, we scored an important goal through Chiesa, and now we will focus on the return leg.”

The return leg in Turin is set for March 9.

Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe lit up the Champions League this week, and it appears the pair – heralded as the two players who will take over from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the defining megastars of their era – are already pushing one another to dizzying heights.

Mbappe, 22, torched Barcelona on Tuesday, scoring a hat-trick in Paris Saint-Germain’s 4-1 victory at the Camp Nou. Naturally, Haaland had to respond; the towering Norwegian striker bagged a brace and set up another tally in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-2 win over Sevilla on Wednesday, and he credited his French counterpart for inspiring him.

“When I saw Mbappe scored a hat-trick yesterday, I got free motivation. So, thanks to him,” the 20-year-old told reporters after the match, according to ESPN.

The two forwards have combined for an absurd 42 goals in just 52 Champions League appearances between them during their young careers. Taking assists into account, they’ve been directly involved in 60 total goals in Europe’s premier club competition.

The future is now.