UEFA Champions League, Where No Lead is Safe

The UEFA Champions League is holding the 2nd leg of the quarterfinals of their international tournament today and tomorrow and I must say that while the tournament has already lived up to it's great reputation, what I just witnessed was absolutely fantastic.

The great advantage about major soccer tournaments between club teams, especially in international tournaments like this one, is the variety and beauty of places that a team has to play. You see whenever a tournament final gets through the group stage and is cut down to the final sixteen teams, they are ranked and placed on a bracket where they must play through like any other sports tournament.

The beauty is though that in soccer they play games based on a 2-leg system with teams advancing to the next round on aggregate. In other words the team has to play a home-and-home against their opponent and score more goals across the two games in order to get to the next round.

Bayern's Thiago celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the soccer Champions League quarterfinal second leg match between Bayern Munich and FC Porto at the Allianz Arena in Munich, southern Germany, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

That means that even if you squeak by at your home stadium you still have to go on the road and play the team on their home turf and then make sure you keep the lead on aggregate. Thats right everyone, that means that even if you won, you can still lose. And if you lose, you can still win.

Confused yet? Let me give you a real life example to help make things clearer.

Bayern's Robert Lewandowski, center, scores his side's 3rd goal during the soccer Champions League quarterfinal second leg match between Bayern Munich and FC Porto at the Allianz Arena in Munich, southern Germany, Tuesday, April 21, 2015. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Today was the second leg in the series between Porto FC, a team from the Portuguese Primeira Liga, and FC Bayern Munich, a team from the German Bundesliga. In the first leg Porto had held it's own ground and ended up winning the game 3-1 at home. Therefore today during the second leg Bayern Munich would have to not only win on their home field, but win by more than two goals in order to advance.

Let me give you a basic recap of what Bayern ended up doing in today's match.

Bayern ended up winning 6-1 moving on to the semi-finals and it was not even close. And that is the great part about this tournament and others like it. No matter how good you play in one game, it takes consistent excellence to win at this level, and Porto just learned that the hard way. 

We are in for a Wild ride

While our OKC Thunder might have had the most agonizing of victories last night with winning against the Timberwolves but losing the race for the 8th and final playoff spot in the western conference another sport started their race to the championship early.

The NHL playoffs got off to a wild start last night with four games, including a sizzling 2OT game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Nashville Predators that is sure to be a great tone-setter for the rest of the series.

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling reaches for the puck in the third period of Game 1 of an NHL Western Conference hockey playoff series against the Nashville Predators Wednesday, April 15, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Speaking of wild games however another is set to happen tonight when the Saint Louis Blues start their 7-game series against the Minnesota Wild... See what I did there?

The St. Louis Blues come into the playoffs in a familiar position as Central Division champs and overall 1-seed in the 16 team NHL playoffs. This however does not guarantee success for a franchise who has had early exits in their last three playoff appearances and has yet to win a Stanley Cup in their 48 year history.

Minnesota Wild's Nino Niederreiter, of Switzerland, tries to reach a loose puck as St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott, right, defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, April 11, 2015, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

The Minnesota Wild have taken their fans on a roller-coaster all the way into the second wildcard spot in the playoffs. Coming all the way from 4th worst in the Western Conference they have ridden hot goal-tending from surprise standout Devan Dubnyk, who has started 39 of the last 40 games, and a stingy defense to get all the way to the postseason.

We'll see tonight whether either team can puncture what has been two of the top defenses in the league and get off to a good start on the race to sixteen wins and the Stanley Cup.