Also, Back-to-Back for Roma’s women, TFC looks to snap winless streak vs. Orlando, Muskoka updates, and UEFA predictions

Anyone who missed last week’s stout and steady away win by Chelsea in Barcelona in UEFA Women’s Champions League action should be kicking themselves.

The Blues were a pretty big underdog for such a strong club, and they obviously played with a chip on their shoulder, in the 1-0 victory.

A sellout very, very pro-Barcelona crowd were kept relatively quiet as Chelsea controlled the match, stopping the hosts at every turn while creating several quality chances of their own (really, they should have scored at least two more goals).

While allowing an excellent team like Barcelona, who are the competition’s defending champions, off the hook with only a one-goal deficit may seem like playing with fire, the return leg is set for London’s Stamford Bridge, it’s sold out and it will be rocking.

The stadium has hosted plenty of big time European matches – for both the men and women – and despite Chelsea not having any history (as the saying goes), the club does have a few trophies.

As has been mentioned in this space a few times prior, the Blues also have Canadian defenders Ashley Lawrence and Kadeisha Buchanan, the only Rouges left in the Champions League and a good reason for us to get behind them.

Yeah, I know, no love for Barcelona but this is my space and I’ll write about who I want in it.

The second leg is on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET. It can be streamed, with a subscription, on DAZN Canada.

In the other semi-final, PSG finds themselves a goal down after a thrilling 3-2 loss away at Lyon in the first leg.

The second leg goes at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. It can be streamed for free on YouTube @DAZNWomensFootball or with a subscription on DAZN Canada.

Back-to-back for Roma Women

The AS Roma Femminile clinched their second straight Serie A title with four games to spare following a 0-0 draw with Fiorentina last week and Inter Milans 2-0 win over Juventus on Friday.

Roma are 20-1-1 on the season and have a shot at the domestic double on May 24 when they take on Fiorentina in the Coppa Italia final (stream on DAZN Canada), which was pretty much a fore-gone conclusion several weeks prior.

Canadian forward Evelyne Viens has been a big part of Roma’s campaign this year, scoring eight goals and adding two assists in 20 matches played in Serie, while adding another three goals in eight matches during Champions League play.

Forza Roma! Siamo Ancora Campionesse!  

Toronto FC in Orlando

Snap the three-game MLS losing streak versus New England. Check.

Advance in the Canadian Championship past a greatly overmatched opponent mid-week with mostly second string and third string players. Check.

Snap a winless streak against Orlando in an away game on Saturday night. Hmmm . . . maybe, hopefully, possibly a check?

The Reds have won two games straight, 1-0 against last place New England last Saturday, and 5-0 over League 1 Ontario champions Simcoe Rovers on Wednesday.

But, neither of those results will matter if they come up with another poor performance this weekend against Orlando (Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on Apple TV MLS Season Pass).

Orlando, despite sitting in 12^th in the Eastern Conference, is a much better team than both those teams TFC recently beat. They’re on a four-game unbeaten run (two wins, two draws) and playing well.

Plus, Orlando is 6-0-2 in their last eight matches against the Reds, including going 4-0 the past two seasons with a combined score of 11-0.

The last time TFC beat Orlando was on May 4, 2019. That game was also in Orlando, so maybe they can do it again – finally.

At the risk of jinxing anything, I won’t mention any names who need to break out of a scoring slump.

I will say that if Prince Owusu can keep up his hot streak to become the team’s number-one striker, it will bode well for the rest of the year.

But no matter the result in Orlando, a month of home games at BMO Field await in May and getting at least eight points from those matches will be crucial.

Muskoka Updates

The Huntsville High School girls’ soccer team kicked off their season this week with a pair of exhibition victories on home turf (literally).

Coached by Anthony Asturi and Erin Potts, the varsity team features players from various Muskoka United FC rep teams and will be looking for great results this year.

On Thursday, they defeated Almaguin and Parry Sound in warm-up games.

Meanwhile, several MUFC teams are gearing up for their season with extra practices, inter-club scrimmages, and friendlies against other clubs.

In the latter vein, the U16 Boys are set to take on their counterparts from Orillia on Saturday at Conroy Park. Kick-off is 4:30 p.m.

UEFA Predictions

Champions League: Real Madrid over Bayern Munich (4-2 on aggregate); PSG over Dortmund (5-4 on aggregate).

Europa League: Atalanta over Marseille (6-3 on aggregate); Roma vs. Leverkusen (my heart says Roma 3-1 on aggregate, my head says 2-2 aggregate and Leverkusen wins on penalties).

Conference League: Aston Villa over Olympiakos (5-2 on aggregate); Fiorentina over Club Brugge (2-1 on aggregate).

That’s it for this week! Thanks for reading and don’t forget to subscribe below! Ciao for Now!