Also, No Cup for Messi, Amazing Atalanta, Champions League drama, EFL Promotion Race, and local updates from Muskoka, Huntsville and Bracebridge

Okay, not too much to say about back-to-back losses against Kansas City and Van City for Toronto FC the past two weeks.

They didn’t look as bad as result in person against K.C. at home, but they definitely looked quite poor against their cross-Canada rival last week away.

Now another away match to a Charlotte side who will be looking to avenge a 1-0 loss to TFC in the BMO Field home opener earlier this season.

TFC are still not at full strength with the lone goal scorer from that earlier match-up, Lorenzo Insigne nursing a hamstring injury, and Richie Laryea out until the summer, plus Brandon Servania, Shane O’Neill and Raoul Petretta are still banged up and rookie Tyrese Spicer’s availablity up in the air.

Those are significant missing pieces, particularly Layrea and Petretta, whose presence helping the back line keep goals out was sorely missed while the team shipped six goals in three games.

But, injuries are a part of professional sports (all levels of sport really) and good teams find ways to dig in and pick up points during adverse times.

After back-to-back losses, this Toronto FC team really needs to get at least a draw in Charlotte on Saturday night to show they’ve got the spine needed to navigate the rest of this year.

Even a solid performance in a loss won’t do . . . this team needs to stop the losing at two games so it doesn’t become a streak.

They can definitely get the job done and there are some players (Federico Bernadeschi in particular) who are due for a goal or two. The time is now to make them happen.

No Champions Cup for Messi, MLS Still Alive

Inter Miami were unceremoniously eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup this week and it means no cup for Lionel Messi and friends.

However, defending MLS Cup Champion Columbus are still alive, drawing both legs 1-1 with Liga MX powerhouse Tigres UNAL before winning in penalties.

They’ll take on another big time Mexican side in Monterrey in the semi-finals (Leg 1 is in Columbus on April 23 followed by the return match in Mexico on April 30).

In the other semi-final, two Mexican clubs (Pachuca and Club America) fight it out for a spot in the final.

Last year Leon won the titles, while two years ago Seattle became the first and (for now) only MLS club to win the continental trophy.

Europa League Stunner at Anfield

I was fully expecting to spend this part of the column gushing over beloved AS Roma taking a 1-0 first leg quarterfinal win at the San Siro with a return to the Stadio Olimpico, a fortress for Roma on European nights.

I was going to go in depth into a week that saw them win the derby last Sunday by the same score and centre back Gianluca Mancini scoring both goals on headers to win each match.

But how can I when La Dea from Atalanta did what they did? In case you missed it, the tiny club from Bergamo in Northern Italy traveled to England, waltzed into Anfield, and left with one foot through the doors of the semi-finals.

Not even the biggest optimist among Atalanta supporters could have predicted a 3-0 away win that could have been so, so much bigger had some choice opportunities been buried (Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher made some quality saves as well).

Many are talking about Liverpool’s ability to come back from big deficits in Europe over the years, but many of those reversals came with a return leg at the raucous Anfield . . . this time, they have to do it in Bergamo where the crowd will be whipped into a frenzy.

The two goals from Gianluca Scamacca will also be giving Italia manager Luciano Spalletti something to think about when he selects his final squad for the Euros this summer.

In other results, soon to be first time Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen predictably won 2-0 at home against West Ham, while Benfica had an exciting 2-1 home victory over Marseille.

The second legs for all these ties go on Thursday, April 11 at 3 p.m. (streaming live on DAZN Canada).

The Europa Conference League quarterfinal first legs also took place this Thursday (second legs are April 18).

Fiorentina lacked any real creativity in the final third as they drew 0-0 away to Vitoria Plzen despite a ton of possession; Olympiakos went up 3-0 and then held on for a 3-2 home win over Fenerbahce; Aston Villa won 2-1 at home to Lille; and Club Brugge won 1-0 at home against PAOK.

The second legs will see Fiorentina-Plzen and Lille-Aston Villa at 12:45 p.m. followed by PAOK-Brugge and Fenerbahce-Olympiacos at 3 p.m. Select games will be live on DAZN.

Champions League full of drama, stunning goals

The first legs of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals were full of everything most neutral fans could want: plenty of goals, drama, debatable calls, passion, and determination.

Everyone I spoke to absolutely loved the back-and-forth affair between Real Madrid-Manchester City in the 3-3 draw. The last three goals of the match, two by City and one by Madrid, were next level strikes worth several second looks.

There were a bunch of wonderful plays that didn’t result in goals, but still added to the enjoyment of the match.

Now the scene changes to England and neutrals everywhere are hoping for more of the same. It would be nice to see Real knock out the defending champions from Manchester.

Meanwhile, in London, Bayern Munich got a goal from Harry Kane (albeit from the penalty spot) in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal. It seemed fitting that the Gunners old rival and longtime Spurs captain tallied against them.

Credit to Arsenal for coming from behind to tie the match, the goal to equal the score was lovely, but they probably should have been up 2 or 3 to nil in the first half and shot themselves in the foot on both Bayern goals.

Gunners’ fans will be screaming about a penalty not given after it appeared that Bukayo Saka was fouled in the box by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, and they do have a point, but Arsenal had enough wasted chances earlier in the match that they also have themselves to blame for the result.

Of course, Bayern were adamant they deserved a penalty when a very confused Gabriel Magalhães didn’t realize play had restarted when his keeper passed him the ball and picked up the ball for a goal kick. The ref was extremely lenient by not following the letter of the law and admitted after the match that it should have been a penalty but didn’t want to punish a “kid’s mistake” in an quarterfinal.

So, I’m guessing they decided to ignore the obvious penalty at the end of the match to even the score – pun intended.

Kylian Mbappe is lamenting the fact that he didn’t do enough as PSG lost at home 3-2 to Barcelona with a trip to the Catalonian city upcoming. Not sure how the Barca side will take that, but it should be as a warning that the man who has a World Cup final hat trick under his belt is on a mission.

In the least interesting of the four quarterfinal matchups, Atletico Madrid won their home leg 2-1 over Borussia Dortmund. Meh. Three of the Europa League quarterfinals are better than this nonsense.

And next year most of those Europa League teams will be in the Champions League, which will make it a better competition.

The second legs of the Champions League quarters run on Tuesday, April 16 at 3 p.m. (Barcelona vs. PSG and Dortmund vs. Atletico) and Wednesday, April 17 at 3 p.m. (Man City vs. Real and Bayern vs. Arsenal).

All matches are streamed live on DAZN.

EFL Promotion Race

Leicester City blew a huge opportunity on Friday falling 1-0 away to relegation threatened Plymouth Argyle. It was Leicester’s second straight loss as they failed to pull away from Ipswich Town and Leeds, both of which earned draws earlier in the week.

Arglye supporters were chanting “we’re staying up” as the clocked ticked away in their club’s victory as it gave them a five-point gap on the bottom three places, which are the relegation spots.

The top of the table is still up for grabs with the top two getting automatic promotion. At the time of this writing, Leicester and Ipswich were tied on 88 points with Leeds only one back at 87 points.

On Saturday, Leeds will kick off the day against Blackburn Rovers and Ipswich hosts Middlesborough at 10 a.m.

As we mentioned last week, this is the best race for promotion and a league title in Europe right now . . . followed by the Premier League trio of Arsenal (71 points), Liverpool (71 points), and Manchester City (70 points).

Muskoka United FC, Huntsville SC, Bracebridge SC Updates

Okay, this is literally a repeat of last week, but it’s all still valid and it’s a good reminder for everyone out there in Muskoka.

Huntsville

The summer season is only weeks away and there are still a few spots available in most age groups for the upcoming house league program – but they’re filling up fast, so take a look at www.huntsvillesoccer.ca and get yourself or your child registered for the summer.

Though most age groups are filling up, there are two programs that may not run if interested people don’t sign up: the U15 co-ed and Intermediate Adult co-ed programs. A decision will be made on May 1st to cancel those two programs unless enough players register by April 30.

On a happier note, the Huntsville Soccer Club has two paid summer program coordinator positions available. They make a great (mostly parttime) summer job for a high school, college or university student.

If interested, contact administrator@huntsvillesoccer.ca for more information or to submit a cover letter and resume.

Bracebridge

Registration for their summer house league program is open and doing well, but there is still time to register at: https://www.bracebridgesoccer.ca/

As well, the Bracebridge Soccer Club has their own position for a program coordinator (similar to the Huntsville positions) and those interested can contact bracebridgesc.info@gmail.com for more information or to submit a cover letter and resume.

Muskoka United

Rep teams from U9 through U18 have been getting ready for their respective seasons with technical work indoors throughout the winter with outdoor practices set to begin as soon as this weekend.

Coach Ray Wright, the MUFC technical lead, is set to meet with each team in the coming weeks for training and goal setting, as well as offering advice and tips to the coaching staffs.

We’ll have some photos and updates from those sessions.

That’s it for this week … in the next couple of weeks we’ll take a look at the relegation races in the major domestic leagues, keep you updated on local happenings in Muskoka, and more of the usual coverage of Toronto FC, and stories I’m interested in.

Ciao for Now!