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Soccer

Which Round of 16 matchup should you be most excited about?

Champions League knockout-phase action kicks off Tuesday, and with it, a slew of matchups that could go either way courtesy of the ever-looming influence of form.

Top-flight heavyweights accustomed to straightforward progression to the next stage are mired by uncharacteristic displays of late which is likely to result in an exciting eight-pack of clashes.

Here’s a look at the first round of knockout matches ranked by their potential for all things appealing:

Manchester City vs. Monaco

What to look for: Goal-friendly Monaco has bagged three or more tallies in five of its last eight in all comps and lead Europe’s top five leagues with 100+ goals courtesy of a dynamic young attack and a reborn Radamel Falcao. Manchester City also boasts a healthy front four led by Kevin De Bruyne, wingers Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling, and nifty newcomer Gabriel Jesus, though there are concerns at the back with a stiff backline and a worrisome Claudio Bravo.

Excitement factor: 10 (out of 10)

Prediction: Monaco (5-4) on aggregate

Real Madrid vs. Napoli

What to look for: Fans of nil-nil draws, turn away. Those not in tune with Serie A this season may give a massive advantage to Real Madrid in its clash with Napoli. That would be a daft assumption considering the form of league-leading scorer Dries Mertens, and his front-three mates Jose Callejon and Lorenzo Insigne and supportive midfielder Marek Hamsik. Kalidou Koulibaly has also helped secure a once-porous backline.

Excitement factor: 9

Prediction: Napoli (5-4)

Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal

What to look for: A matchup as familiar as any, both Bayern Munich and Arsenal enter this last-16 tilt shadows of their potential, making the impulsive selection of the Bavarian giant a hesitant one. Cup specialist coach Claudio Ancelotti is no stranger to continental success, having won the Champions League on three occasions with two clubs, though Bayern’s league efforts have been nothing short of troubling. That said, Arsenal is Arsenal.

Excitement factor: 8.5

Prediction: Bayern Munich (3-3, with penalties at the Emirates)

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Barcelona

What to look for: Like Bayern, Barcelona hasn’t appeared its unbeatable self this season, though four victories and a draw in its last five by a 19-1 margin is reason enough to believe Luis Enrique and Co. can advance to the last eight for the 10th time on the trot. Likewise, Paris Saint-Germain has paired four wins and a draw over the same term, outscoring its opponents 13-4, and Edinson Cavani has been at his best with 25 goals in 23 matches. Hard to fathom La Blaugrana not taking this tilt, though a fit-again midfield pair of Marco Verratti and Adrien Rabiot could have something to say for it.

Excitement factor: 8

Prediction: Barcelona (4-3)

Sevilla vs. Leicester City

What to look for: Perennial Europa League giant Sevilla is looking to carve its place in the continent’s top-tier competition, and considering Leicester City’s league form, there’s no reason to think Jorge Sampaoli’s lot can’t notch a last-eight spot. As common as the other 14 sides in the knockout stage are, this clash pits two sides oblivious to this level. Sevilla will know that bouncing the Foxes will see it avoid a fellow La Liga side until at least the semis. Cinderella’s slippers may very well fit the Andalusians. That said, writing off Leicester has proved a calamitous task before.

Excitement factor: 7.5

Prediction: Sevilla (3-1)

Benfica vs. Borussia Dortmund

What to look for: Despite the widespread plaudits directed at Thomas Tuchel’s burgeoning Borussia Dortmund, the North Rhine-Westphalians have flirted with defeat and disaster all season. Champions League is rarely the platform for inexperienced players, and Benfica boasts a potent attack led by Kostas Mitroglou and Pizzi paired with a solid backline featuring highly coveted Swede Victor Lindelof.

Excitement factor: 7

Prediction: Benfica (3-2)

Porto vs. Juventus

What to look for: Should Max Allegri opt for cement-footed Stephan Lichtsteiner over not fully fit Dani Alves at right-back in the gaffer’s new 4-2-3-1 formation, Porto winger Yacine Brahimi could have a field day on the left flank with the stagnant Swiss international. The Portuguese giant is also one of the tournament’s most proficient dead-ball sides, though it’s hard to imagine Nuno Santo’s stingy defence denying the Old Lady’s three-headed monster of Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, and Mario Mandzukic over two legs.

Excitement factor: 6

Prediction: Juventus (3-1)

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Atletico Madrid

What to look for: With both Diego Simeone and Antoine Griezmann eyeing their next gigs, Atletico Madrid is a fraction of the side that has lost in two of the last three Champions League finals. If Los Rojiblancos have been disappointing, Roger Schmidt’s Bayer Leverkusen has been drab. Considering these two sides have combined for a scant 57 goals scored 41 top-flight tilts, expect two low-scoring affairs where Atletico has the edge at the Vicente Calderon.

Excitement factor: 1

Prediction: Atletico (1-0)

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

NFL

Patriots' winning TD ball never missing, after all

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots running back James White said he forgot to keep the football that he scored the game-winning touchdown with in Super Bowl LI, but luckily for him, an equipment assistant scooped it up, according to a team spokesman.

The Patriots are now displaying the football at their Hall of Fame.

On ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike show the day after Super Bowl LI, White said he forgot to keep the football. In a separate interview on “The Dan Patrick Show” the following day, White said he was hopeful that an equipment manager picked it up.

White’s remarks came in the wake of uncertainty over the whereabouts of quarterback Tom Brady’s game jersey, which led some to assume that perhaps the football was also missing.

“I wasn’t thinking in that moment,” White said. “I was too busy sprinting down the field.”

But a team spokesman explained that an equipment assistant retrieved the football at the time of the touchdown, as would be normal protocol.

The football could ultimately be given to White as a keepsake, but for now it is being shared with the team’s fans.

Brady’s jersey still has yet to be found.

“It’s very sad to me that someone would do something like this,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft told the Fox Business Network on Monday of Brady’s jersey. “It’s like taking a great Chagall or Picasso or something. You can never display it. And somehow, I feel there’ll be some news that’ll clear this up in the not-too-distant future.”

Soccer

Real Madrid gets Ronaldo injury scare ahead of Napoli clash

Agence France-Presse

10h ago

Reuters

Madrid – Cristiano Ronaldo trained apart from the team on Monday just two days ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League last-16 home leg against Napoli.

The Portuguese goal machine, with a record 96 Champions League strikes to his name, suffered a heavy tackle during a 3-1 win over Osasuna at the weekend.

And, as the rest of the Real Madrid squad trained on ball skills Monday, Real website reported that “Cristiano Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrao trained inside the facilities.”

Ronaldo suffered a knock to his right leg, according to press reports, adding that he was expected to shake off the injury in time to play Wednesday.

On a happier note for the 10-time European champions, Welsh forward Gareth Bale took full part in training Monday, looking fresh, sharp, and upbeat after three months out with a heel injury.

Bale will take no part in Wednesday’s game but could be back in the starting lineup for the Feb. 22 return leg in Naples.

NFL

Now 49ers coach, Kyle Shanahan looks back and laughs at lost backpack

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — New San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan admitted at his introductory news conference that he will “go back through every play” of Super Bowl LI for the rest of his life. And though the ending of that Super Bowl and his tenure as Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator will undoubtedly be hard to shake, not everything from Shanahan’s Super Bowl experience will take on such a serious tone.

After last week’s news conference and making the rounds with various media outlets, Shanahan popped into the media room to chat with a group of writers in a more informal session. At the start of that sit-down, Shanahan recounted the case of his missing backpack, which included his iPad playbook, from early in Super Bowl week.

It was a particularly amusing story for Bay Area media considering the accidental thief of the backpack was Art Spander of the San Francisco Examiner. Spander is a local legend in San Francisco sports writing, earning the McCann Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Here’s Shanahan’s recollection of what happened in his own words:

“It was a very panicked feeling,” Shanahan said.

But Shanahan wasn’t panicked because of the presence of his game plan, which would still have needed a password to access.

“[But] that had all my Super Bowl tickets in it for all my friends and family, so it’s basically a $30,000 bag of cash that was missing,” Shanahan said. “So that was my panic.”

It was a panic that held Shanahan for a long time as he tried to figure out where the backpack went.

“I was just looking for my backpack,” Shanahan said. “I didn’t know who took it. But I couldn’t get more than five feet without someone stopping me. And I was getting insecure because people were trying to talk to me and I can’t even look them in the eye. [I was thinking] ‘I’ve got to find my backpack!’ And they’re [thinking] ‘this guy’s weird.’

“So finally I went back to my seat where I was and there was this one backpack sitting there. And so I just went and started looking in that backpack and finally I found Art’s name on it. I was asking some reporters around and someone had his cellphone, so they called him.”

But recovering the backpack wasn’t that easy.

“They talked to Art,” Shanahan said. “And I was like, ‘Does he have it?’ He goes, ‘I don’t know.’ I’m like ‘you just talked to him for 30 seconds, what do you mean you don’t know?’ [He said] ‘I don’t know. He’s coming down here, though.'”

So Shanahan sat down and waited 30 minutes for Spander to return with his backpack. He missed the team bus while waiting.

“Finally he came, he was wearing the backpack,” Shanahan said. “But he still didn’t know it was mine. I tried to grab it from him and he shook me off. And then eventually he realized it and then he was awesome. Just a mistaken backpack.”

Shanahan said the backpacks were placed in a dark area so it was understandable that his black backpack could be mistaken for Spander’s blue one. He also acknowledged that he has a knack for misplacing things.

“The worst part about it is I am a forgetful person, besides football,” Shanahan said. “My wallet, I lose regularly. All the quarterbacks, my wife, every friend I’ve ever had, they’re like, ‘Of course, you lost the gameplan.’ I’m like, ‘No I didn’t! Someone jacked me, I promise.’

“No one believed me.”

Eventually, the backpack was returned with everything intact. Shanahan looks back at it and laughs now.

“I messed with Art on that,” Shanahan said, chuckling. “‘What, do you work for [Patriots coach Bill] Belichick or something?’ He didn’t get my joke, though.”

Spander was unable to attend Shanahan’s first news conference. He was tending to his other sporting passion: covering the AT&T pro-am golf tournament at Pebble Beach but they will be reunited soon enough.

“I was waiting to see him,” Shanahan said. “We have a bond now.”

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