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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Bhutan, Real Madrid and a Pitch Invasion

In this week’s football review section we look back at some of the games from the Champions League and the 2018 World Cup qualifiers that took place this week. To help with understanding you can find explanations of key vocabulary in bold below.
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This week’s football review (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) Bhutan, Real Madrid and a Pitch Invasion

Good

Everyone was talking about Paris Saint Germain’s wonderful battling performance as the highlight of the week – the French side were down to ten men but still knocked out Chelsea from the Champions League last 16 – but surely the best football news of the week took place thousands of miles from London in Sri Lanka. The hosts were defeated 0-1 by Bhutan in the first round of the Asian qualifying section for the 2018 World Cup. Bhutan are officially ranked last in the FIFA rankings and had only ever won three matches before this but a goal from Tshering Dorji near the end of the game secured a vital first leg advantage for the tiny Himalayan nation.

Bad

It has been a bad week for Real Madrid. Defeat at Athletic Bilbao in La Liga last weekend left Madrid a point behind their rivals Barcelona at the top of the Spanish league table. They were then beaten 3-4 at home in the second leg of their last 16 Champions League tie against German side Schalke. They still managed to qualify for the quarter-finals 5-4 on aggregate but were made to suffer. Interesting times ahead for Real especially as the clasico takes place in a week’s time.

Ugly

The FA Cup quarter-final tie between two Midlands rivals Aston Villa and West Brom was marred by crowd violence last weekend. The game had to be stopped on two occasions due to pitch invasions. Luckily no one was hurt but Aston Villa had to issue an apology soon afterwards. Pretty ugly indeed.

Vocabulary

battling: Heroic, worked very hard for the win

down to ten men: Had a man sent off

The hosts: The home team

officially ranked last: They are the worst national side in the world!

secured a vital first leg advantage: They have taken a lead (they lead 1-0)

tiny Himalayan nation: Bhutan

second leg: The second of two matches to decide the team to progress to the next round

tie: Match

on aggregate: In total (used in two-legged matches)

was marred: was ruined

pitch invasions: Fans came onto the pitch

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