Champions League: March 16th and 17th

-Jose Mourinho drew up a great game plan to beat his former team and Inter Milan executed it to perfection to knock Chelsea out of the Champions League. Chelsea rarely got into a rhythm and, apart from a fifteen minute spell before the end of the first half, never really dominated Inter. Both Walter Samuel and Lucio had great games at the heart of the Inter's defense, limiting Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba to few clear-cut opportunities. Inter also won the midfield battle: neither Frank Lampard nor Michael Ballack had much of a impact on the game.

But the real star of the show was Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder. Matched up with perhaps one of Chelsea's weakest links, Jon Obi Mikel, Sneijder shone in the second half as Inter started getting more and more counter-attacking opportunities. He played a succession of wonderful passes through the heart of the Chelsea defense. Goran Pandev should have scored from one, but Samuel Eto'o did from another in the 79^th minute. The goal meant that the London-based side had to score twice in the final eleven minutes, a near-impossible task given Inter's stingy defense.

Mourinho, who had been showered with abuse by Chelsea fans in what was an ill-tempered game, did not do much celebrating at the final whistle (certainly no repeat of that infamous Old Trafford moment) but he will have taken a lot of satisfaction at masterminding this win over his former club. For Chelsea, Russian owner Roman Abramovich's dream of European glory will have to be laid to rest for yet another season.

-When Barcelona forward Lionel Messi plays like he did against Stuttgart, he's the best soccer player in the world. Simple as that. After scoring a second-half hat trick against Valencia, Messi was at his sparkling best again in Barcelona's 4-0 demolition of Stuttgart. He scored two goals and created another, but his contribution went far beyond that. He ran at (and past) defenders with authority and speed all game long. He didn't just dribble though; he linked up well with his teammates and passed the ball beautifully. It's games like this one where the Diego Maradona comparisons really ring true.

As a whole, Barcelona were superb; they looked a lot like the team that won the competition last year. They were miles better than Stuttgart, and will probably be the number one side teams will want to avoid in the draw for the next round.

-It's hard for just two players to receive all the blame for a Champions League exit, but between them Olympiakos' Antonios Nikopolidis and Matt Derbyshire almost managed it against Bordeaux. Five minutes into the game, Nikopolidis was beaten by a Yoann Gourcuff free kick that never should have got by him (To make things worse, the same thing almost happened again a few minutes later when Gourcuff lifted another long range effort over him, only to be denied by a combination of the crossbar and post). Nikopolidis also completely misjudged the cross on the Marouane Chamakh goal that sealed Olympiakos' fate.

For his part, former Blackburn striker Derbyshire received a booking for voraciously demanding a penalty after he was outmuscled in the area in the 54^th minute. Only 6 minutes later, he lunged into a pointless sliding challenge on Jaroslav Plasil to earn a deserved second yellow.

-Goal of the Week: Lionel Messi, Barcelona: On a day he provided a vintage performance, the diminutive striker also scored the goal of the week. Receiving the ball just inside the Stuttgart half on the right hand side, he dribbled forward, unchallenged, to the left edge of the penalty box. With four defenders within two yards of him, he unleashed an unstoppable left-footed shot past Jens Lehmann into the top corner.

-Goat of the Week: Didier Drogba, Chelsea. When is Ivorian striker going to learn to accept a Champions League exit with just a skosh of class and dignity? In the 2008 final against Manchester United, he was sent off after slapping Nemanja Vidic three minutes from the end of overtime (the first player to get a red card for violent content in a Champions League final). Last year after Barcelona had knocked Chelsea out, his post game rant and antics were so out of line, UEFA banned him for six games (reduced to three on appeal).

This time around, with the clock winding down and Chelsea's elimination almost guaranteed, Drogba, frustrated at being held by Thiago Motta, stamped on the Inter midfielder's ankle. Motta definitely made the most of it, rolling around on the turf as if the ankle was broken, but Drogba's intentions were clearly nasty. Once again, he let his frustration get the better of him.