LIVERPOOL, England -- One step forward, two steps back. If Chelsea and Maurizio Sarri had felt the worst of a turbulent season was behind them, then the Blues' 2-0 loss to Everton was a sobering reminder that the toughest reckoning may yet be to come. Chelsea, who for a time seemed to have been cleansed by the experience of their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City, have stalled again at the worst possible moment. A place in the top four now lies squarely out of their hands and, in the eyes...

LONDON -- On paper, this should have been a simple victory for Liverpool: the Premier League's most rampant three-man attack against the Premier League's most shambolic, error-prone defence.

In practice, it was considerably more complex. This turned into the archetypal Premier League test: away to relegation strugglers fighting for their lives, in a tight ground with home supporters on top of the players, in horrendous conditions that involved swirling wind, torrential rain, blasts of hailstones...

MUNICH -- It takes an extra-special player to inspire a team to Champions League glory, and during this decade, it has usually been Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi who has been the difference in terms of elevating his side above the rest. Only twice since 2010 has a team without Ronaldo or Messi won the Champions League -- Chelsea in 2012 and Bayern Munich in 2013 -- and it will take a great team, or an outstanding player, to prevent one of them from claiming another winners' medal this season.

But...

TURIN, Italy -- Last month in Madrid, Atletico Madrid were entirely dominant against a Juventus side that offered absolutely no attacking threat and won 2-0. On Wednesday in Turin, Juventus were entirely dominant against an Atletico side that offered absolutely no attacking threat and won 3-0 to advance, seemingly against the odds.

This was the archetypal two-legged European tie, a contest that outlines the difficulty of playing away from home in a hostile atmosphere. It was essentially won by the...

PARIS -- Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted recently that he wanted to "give the best job interview I could ever do" during his supposedly temporary spell as Manchester United manager. The Norwegian had already done that before his team stunned Paris Saint-Germain to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals, but this historic victory must surely now be followed by confirmation that he really is the man to take the job on a permanent basis.

Solskjaer really can do no more to earn the right to...

LIVERPOOL -- They were accentuating the positives at the end of the game, but it felt as though Jurgen Klopp and Jordan Henderson were clutching at straws as the Liverpool manager and captain attempted to find a silver lining from the 0-0 draw against Everton at Goodison Park. The result pushes Liverpool down to second, a point behind leaders Man City with nine games to go.

Henderson insisted that points from successive away games at Manchester United and Everton -- both ended goalless -- were...