Plus, UEFA and Concacaf round-of-16 notes, and what to watch this weekend.

Toronto FC concludes it’s three straight away matches to begin the MLS 2025 season at Cincinnati (March 8 at 7:30 p.m. on MLS Season Pass, Apple TV and TSN).

They’re looking for their first win after a tough 4-2 loss to Orlando City that saw the their defenders exposed too many times. The not-too-bad 2-2 draw at DC United to open the season feels like a year away now.

The offense has scored two goals in each match and does look dangerous enough to keep scoring match in and match out. Now, about those six goals in two matches . . .

Head coach Robin Fraser, a former centre back, is confident the team can clean-up the mistakes and maintain a proper mindset for 90 minutes. He knows that’s the only way they can have a shot at a winning season.

“Against D.C., I thought we were very solid. I thought for the first 30 minutes against Orlando, we were pretty solid,” Fraser told media members on Thursday. “But then when it goes awry, it goes awry. It’s about sustained concentration, because I do think that when we’re focused and we are really well-connected with each other, we’re hard to break down.”

On the flip side, Federico Bernadeschi looks like he’s ready for another solid year with a goal and an assist, plus his typical strong efforts. Perhaps getting new striker Ola Brynhildsen out there from the get-go in Cincinnati will provide more fireworks.

Getting the offence to another level would certainly alleviate pressure on the defenders as well. Some people say the best defence is a good offence.

It does stand to reason that with more sustained attacking pressure, an early goal, and keeping the other team on the backfoot, Toronto FC will be in better positions to succeed. Plus, it’s does a ton for confidence when you’re the ones applying pressure rather than absorbing it.

In any case, the Reds need to jump all over the hosts from the first minute – Cincinnati played to a 1-1 draw Tuesday against Tigres in the Concacaf Champions Cup. They travel to Mexico for the second leg this Tuesday, so they could be ripe for the picking.

Knockout rounds in full force

Knockout round soccer (or football if you like) is simply fantastic in almost any scenario, even when it’s a two-leg aggregate score situation. It is certainly entertaining when it comes to UEFA club competitions.

With the round-of-16 first legs going in all three European continental tournaments, there were some inspiring performances on display.

Arsenal’s 7-1 away thrashing of PSV Eindhoven, Aston Villa 3-1 away to Club Brugge, and Bayern Munich winning 3-0 at home to Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen, and Real Madrid winning 2-1 over their city rivals Atletico stood out in Champions League.

Glasgow Rangers travelling to Turkey to beat Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe 3-1 was certainly noteworthy in the Europa League, while AS Roma’s late winner over Athletic Club (2-1) at the Stadio Olimpico is what European nights are made for. Lyon winning 3-1 at FCSB and Bodo/Glimt topping Olimpiakos 3-0 were other interesting results.

In the Conference League, there were two five-goal thrillers with the host winning 3-2 in each: Panathinaikos beat Fiorentina and Molde held off a late surge by Legia Warszawa.

It will be interesting to see if the teams with the first leg advantages can hold on and advance this week.

Closer to home, the Concacaf Champions Cup is also in the round-of-16 with LAFC’s 3-0 dominance of Columbus standing out the most, though Herediano’s 1-0 win over the Galaxy was unexpected as well.

The rest went to script (at least somewhat) with Inter Miami winning 2-0 without Lionel Messi in the line-up, some draws and expected one-goal wins.

Matches of the Weekend

Saturday, March 1

Bundesliga: Bayern Leverkusen vs. Werder Bremen, 9:30 a.m., DAZN Canada

La Liga: Atletico Madrid vs. Athletic Club, 3 p.m. TSN+

EPL: Brentford vs. Aston Villa, 12:30 p.m., FuboTV Canada

Sunday, March 2

EPL: Manchester United vs. Arsenal, 12:30 a.m., FuboTV Canada

Serie A: Juventus vs. Atalanta, 3:45 p.m., FuboTV Canada

Ligue 1: Nice vs. Lyon, 3:45 p.m.

That’s it for me! Enjoy your weekend and thanks for reading!

Ciao for Now!

Click the banner to contact us about advertising and sponsorship opportunities!