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It shouldn't be surprising that a man who decided to conduct a marriage proposal via satellite during an interview at the Champions League quarterfinal draw would make a silly statement. Yet the fact that PSG sporting director Leonardo felt the need to say that his side's quarterfinal tie against Barcelona would have gone much differently if it took place in a bizarro world where Lionel Messi played for them instead of Barca is still worthy of a small plaque for achievements in the obvious.

After the injured Messi came on in the second half of the second leg to inspire Barca to score the goal that allowed them to advance on away goals, Leonardo shared his highly developed theory. From AS:

"We scored and had a chance to make it two. We had the Nou Camp trembling, and that is massive. I think Barcelona were frightened during the game. I'm sure that if Messi had been on our side we would have won 6-0", said PSG sporting director Leonardo after the match.

Is this a subtle way of warning

Extra time couldn't separate Basel and Spurs after two legs of their Europa League quarterfinal, so it had to be decided with a penalty shootout. With Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe all unavailable for Spurs, Clint Dempsey stepped up with two goals to get them to that point. But in the shootout, it was Emmanuel Adebayor who proved manager Andre Villas-Boas' pre-match comments to be prophetic. Albeit not in the way Villas-Boas intended.

From ESPN, before the second leg:

Tottenham face an uphill battle to seal a semi-final spot after being held to a 2-2 draw by Basel at White Hart Lane last week and, even though the odds appear to be stacked against Villas-Boas' side, he is expecting a new hero to stand up, backing Adebayor to spring back into top form.

"Adebayor has got back in the goals in our recent games and he has shown how influential he can be," Villas-Boas said in his pre-match press briefing in Switzerland.

"He is driven by his last performance and he is doing

In a turn of events that will give any player who takes a horrible shot a bit of hope, a striker for Brazilian third-division club Crac learned that you should never turn your back on a ball in mid-air.

With his side already up 2-0 in a Copa do Brasil match against first-division side Nautico, Danilo lost his balance and flubbed a shot into the night sky. Angry about his miscue, immediately turned and jogged back up the pitch under the assumption that the ball would go into the stands. Instead, it came down at a steep angle and snuck between the goalkeeper's outstretched hand the crossbar to go in for a goal.

Danilo finally turned back around to find his teammates celebrating and put together what happened, turning his anguish into a smile. Surely he will now claim that the shot came off exactly how he planned it.

Video via 101gg

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It's been nearly two and a half months since David Beckham signed with PSG and immediately announced that his entire, reportedly massive salary would be donated to a Paris children's charity. That detail became the primary focus of the Beckham-gazing world (also known as "the world") with some lauding the generous act and others assuming a variety of nefarious motives. But while PSG are already talking about their desire to extend Beckham's contract beyond its initial five-month run, the Independent reveals that the small detail of actually selecting a charity and donating Beckham's current wages has yet to be addressed.

From the Independent:

“No decision has yet been made. We are considering various options,” Yann Guerin, the spokesman for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) told The Independent.

Should we expect a decision soon? Mr Guerin could not say. A spokesman for David Beckham says that a decision is likely in the next two or three weeks.

An investigation by The Independent this week

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South Africa has finally realized that vuvuzelas are betting suited for use as weapons than for making music and so the country's top-flight league is now considering a ban on the popular noisemaker/beatin' stick. Though vuvuzelas are arguably more violent and harmful when used for their intended purpose, two recent incidents have brought league officials to warn of the end of the vuvuzela.

First, the plastic horns were thrown on the pitch, along with other objects, by disgruntled Orlando Pirates fans. A week later, a pitch invader tried to beat the referee with a vuvuzela during a match between Kaizer Chiefs and Golden Arrows. And now the buzz could be destined to end.

From Reuters:

Premier Soccer League (PSL) officials say that although they are not yet pursuing a ban, it has become a topic of conversation after a rise in incidents where the vuvuzela was used to cause harm.

"Our rules ban all dangerous weapons from matches," PSL general manager Derek Blanckensee told Reuters. "If

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Even after losing to Man City at Old Trafford for the second year in a row, Manchester United still look certain to win their 20th domestic league title with a 12-point lead and just seven matches left to play. But as the Telegraph points out in a brief and strange little article, it could all go wrong, saving us from a boring end to the season that would make us weep over the routine inevitability of life that even infests our sources of entertainment. Here is the absolute worst way each remaining match could turn out...

Sunday, April 14 at Stoke
Having already announced his plans to retire at the end of the season, Michael Owen will be desperate to do whatever it takes to avoid relegation in his final campaign. Still bitter that Man United did not offer him a new contract in the offseason so his bench sitting could be rewarded with one last trophy, Owen will attempt to sprint across the pitch during the match. Unable to handle such exertion, his body will explode, taking out Man

Still dealing with a hamstring injury suffered during the first leg of Barcelona's Champions League quarterfinal against PSG, Lionel Messi did not start the second leg at the Camp Nou. This proved difficult for both Messi and his team as he squirmed on the bench and PSG took a 3-2 aggregate lead when Javier Pastore scored in the 50th minute.

Would Messi be forced to sit and watch his side be vanquished from the Champions League in just the quarterfinals like some kind of nightmare in which he doesn't exist and ice cream tastes like the backseat of a taxi cab? No. With Barcelona getting desperate, Messi was put on for Cesc Fabregas in the 62nd minute and the team's confidence immediately ballooned. Pedro scored an equalizer in the 71st minute that gave the advantage back to Barcelona on away goals and PSG's elimination was a certainty from there.

""Messi's introduction really helped the team, he gave us strength," said Pedro after the match. Here's a photographic journey through Messi's evening...

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In the Champions League for the first time in the club's history and facing a one-year ban from UEFA competitions for financial troubles, Malaga took a 2-1 lead over Borussia Dortmund into injury time. It would've been a tremendous upset for a side that had to sell off Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal, but Dortmund provided a shock of their own by going on to score twice in two minutes to advance the semifinals with a goal that could've easily been disallowed for being offside (for the record, Malaga's second could've too).

It was a cruel end to a grueling series of events for Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini, who stoically navigated his own personal sadness that went far behind lost matches or his club's financial constraints. Over the weekend, the 59-year-old flew from Spain to his native Chile for his father's funeral. Though he learned of his father's passing before Saturday's match against Real Sociedad, he only told his captains after completing his post-match press conference. The