It is worth asking why these results keep happening, why a competition that once was marked by its caution and its caginess has become so chaotic. And perhaps all of those precedents, too, have persuaded players that there is no such thing as a lost cause. What explains the gulf in performances over the course of two games for the losing teams: for Atlético and Real Madrid and, invariably, P.S.G.? They are unaccustomed — even Atlético, whose reputation for doughty defending is rooted in its performances against Real, Barcelona and in the Champions League — to ceding control. Perhaps that is what has created this version of the Champions League, where anything can happen, where improbable is not enough and impossible might not be, too, where it is worth giving something, no matter how fantastical, a go.

Source: New York Times March 13, 2019 00:02 UTC