Madrid and United in Exciting Draw, Europa League, Tim Vickery in Brazil, Football Weekly Extra

Get a room...

Well, that was quite entertaining. Real Madrid had the better run of play, but United certainly had their chances and in the end a 1-1 draw seemed pretty darn fair. There were also some glaring non-calls. Once, Phil Jones totally steamrolled some Madrid dude in the box. Then, Danny Wellbeck was obviously held when he was about to explode in on goal. No calls for either of them. Man of the Match? We'd vote for David de Gea. The Madrid native played like all of his family were in the stands watching. He was simply outstanding. There are obviously loads of reports and opinion pieces. We'll just make a list:

Henry Winter at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu

Phil McNulty at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu

Daniel Taylor at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu

Sid Lowe on the Spanish Press Reaction

Talking Points

Player Ratings

There actually was another Champions League match yesterday out in Ukraine. Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund drew 2-2. Uhh, we didn't watch that one but apparently there was some pretty sweet action. Like this lovely number from Douglas Costa.

Chelsea enjoy Prague...

There's more action in Europe today. The Europa League is back in action. Liverpool have to go to St. Petersburg and all the talk is over fears of racially motivated insanity. They are the The Most Racist Club, you know.

Elsewhere, Tottenham and Chelsea are in action, along with a slew of other top clubs like Napoli, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Newcastle. Well, maybe Newcastle shouldn't be included in that group.

Speaking of Inter Milan, James Horncastle wants us to know about their new man: Mateo Kovacic.

Football Weekly Extra! Yes! Here: It's Valentine's Day, so James Richardson has Pedro Pinto, James Horncastle and Tom Lutz making up an extra sexy line-up of pundits and putting the 'ooh' and indeed 'ahh' into this this edition of Football Weekly Extra. We start with the fun and frolics in the Bernabéu, where Manchester United's away goal surely gives them the edge over Real Madrid ahead of the second leg in a fortnight's time. Sid Lowe gives his view, before heading off for some quality time with his laptop. (Note to Sid: this is music like it used to be). Next, we welcome Iain Macintosh to the pod for the first time as he analyses Borussia Dortmund's draw with Shakhtar Donestk, before we mop up all that business with PSG and Valencia and Celtic's chastening by Juventus. Still, at least they can concentrate on the league now. Finally, we finish off by summoning all the enthusiasm we can for a less-than-glamorous looking bunch of fixtures for the fifth round of the FA Cup. But, on this day in particular, remember that it's not looks that count.

Finally, Tim Vickery is in Brazil talking about their big tournament: Copa Libertadores.

That looks to be it for today. Dig it.

Onward!!

-SSN