Goal of the Week; Marcelo Gallardo

For those of you who though that great goals only happen in Europe, think again. This week's Goal of the Week is awarded to Marcelo Gallardo of DC United. United has had a rough start to the season, but performances like last week's 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake are the perfect way to jump start your team. Check out Gallardo's blast here.

Celtic Close Gap on Rangers in SPL; Nakamura's "Goal of the Week"

The race for first place in Scotland's Premier League just got more interesting. Celtic toppled first placed Rangers by a score of 2-1 in today's Old Firm derby. The game was a must win in order for Celtic to have a chance at winning the Scottish Premier League; they now sit in second place (1 point aback of Rangers) with just 2 games remaining.

Shunsuke Nakamura's stunningly beautiful strike opened the action in the 20th minute, and earned him "Goal of the Week" honors. Rangers leveled with a goal in the second period, but in the 70th minute where reduced to 10 men as Carlos Cuellar was shown red. The Hoops failed to convert the ensuing penalty and it looked like gloom and doom for the Celtic fans until Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (doesn't it sounds like he is from Middle Earth? - ED.) scored the stoppage time winner.

This game will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel Thursday April, 17th at 8 PM (yes the game was played on Wednesday--FSC doesn't make sense) and should definitely be considered as a "must see " match. Here is a sneak peek of the match and Nakamura's "Goal of the Week."

Goal of the Week

This week's honor goes to Rubén Baraja who's blast helped put a struggling Valencia side into the finals of the Copa del Rey over injury laden Barcelona.



The Copa del Rey trophy looks like Valencia's only chance to get back into Europe next year, as the winner of the Cup earns a spot in the 08/09 UEFA Cup. Valencia, who currently sit 11th in La Liga, will meet 8th placed Getafe in the finals on April 16th.

UEFA Round of 16 Wrap Up

There has been some high quality European soccer taking place over the past two days. For those of you who missed the action we have all the results from this weeks' matchday. In my opinion "the goal of the matchday" goes to Cesc Fabregas for his 30+ yard strike that silenced AC Milan.



Yesterday, Barcelona, Manchester United, Arsenal and Fenerbahçe all advanced to the round of eight. And in today's matches favorites Real Madrid were ousted by Roma, Chelsea dismantled Olympiacos and Porto lost in penalties to German side Schalke. The last match before the quarterfinal draw will take place next week as Liverpool will face off against Internazionale.

Here is a quick rundown of the aggregate scores (bold teams are through to the quarterfinals):

Arsenal 2- Milan 0
Fenerbahçe 5 - Sevilla 5 (Fenerbahçe through on penalties 3-2)
Manchester United 2 - Lyon 1
Celtic 2 - Barcelona 4
Olympiacos 0 - Chelsea 3
Roma 4 - Real Madrid 2
Schalke 1 - Porto 1 (Schalke through on penalties 4-2)

The first leg of the quarterfinals will take place during the first week of April.