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Weekly News Roundup - March 21, 2016
Another busy week in football has ended, highlighted by the results of the Champions League and the Europa League knockout stage. Here is a recap of what you might have missed this week in football.
Champions' League Draw
The Round of 16 wrapped up this week and Europe's biggest tournament transitioned into the quarterfinals. The draw for the final eight was held this week and it's an absolute treat for the neutral. In the tie of the round, Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals for the second time in three years. Manchester City will play PSG in their first-ever quarterfinal appearance, while Benfica will have to deal with German powerhouse Bayern Munich. Rounding out the round is Wolfsburg playing against Real Madrid in their first-ever quarterfinal as well.
Bayern Munich Defeat Juventus in a Stunning Comeback
Thomas Muller was the hero once again as Bayern Munich triumphed 4-2 against Juventus in a Champions' League game for the ages. The Bavarians found themselves on the brink of elimination in stoppage time, 2-1 down and needing a goal to send the game into extra time.
The goal came from the ever-dependable Thomas Muller, who nodded in the equalizer to send the Allianz Arena into raptures and the game into extra time. Thiago Alcantara and Kingsley Coman would both score in extra-time to give Bayern the win and a spot in the quarterfinals.
Sepp Blatter's Appeal
Sepp Blatter refuses to go down without a fight.
Blatter has appealed a six-year ban from football handed to him by FIFA due to a scandal regarding the payment of $2 million to former UEFA president Michel Platini. Following in Platini's footsteps, who is also suspended for six years due to his involvement in the scandal, he's lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport hoping to overturn his ban.
FIFA Admits What We Already Knew
Another week and it's another bombshell for FIFA. This time, after years of lying and cheating, the organization finally admitted that they took bribes for World Cup hosting. FIFA has now submitted a claim to the U.S. Attorney's Office looking to get back the millions of dollars in bribery money taken by U.S. prosecutors in raids and arrests over the course of last year. FIFA is playing the victim card, claiming that they are entitled to the money received by the corrupt figures of the footballing world, despite gladly accepting bribes for over twenty years.
Harry Redknapp is a Coach Again
Last time Harry Redknapp was in the news, it was in February 2015 when he quit QPR. Redknapp left them in a relegation fight that they couldn't win and now they're a mid-table team in the Championship. Anyway, since leaving his post last year, Redknapp has largely stayed away from coaching football, only taking up director roles at teams like Wimborne Town and Derby County.
But that all changed this week when he was appointed as the coach of Jordan (yes, you read that right).
Redknapp has been charged with overseeing Jordan's last two World Cup qualifying matches and getting the country to its first-ever World Cup. It's definitely an odd choice for Harry Redknapp, but hopefully he can lead the Jordanians to the World Cup in his first international managerial position.
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