When Rory McIlroy won the Masters last April, dropped to his knees and started to sob, you could sense the enormity of the moment. McIlroy had waited his whole life for this, to win the tournament that had alluded him for years.

He held a four-shot lead after 54 holes in 2011 but imploded on Sunday, shooting 80 and tying for 15th. He had seven top 10s since then, but never a win, not until last year, when McIlroy outlasted Justin Rose in a playoff to win the green jacket and complete the career Grand Slam.

And with winning the Masters, you get a pre-Masters press conference, like McIlroy did virtually on Wednesday with a handful of reporters. One of the questions he was asked was what he learned about how to win the Masters by winning the Masters.

His answer? The importance of staying aggressive. And he even gave an assist to Phil Mickelson.

McIlroy said he played a practice round with Mickelson, a three-time Masters champ, about 15 years ago and Mickelson told him, “Rory, one of the reasons I love Augusta National is because I feel I can be so aggressive here.”

“I remember thinking, ‘What does he mean?’” McIlroy said. “I feel the opposite. I feel I can’t be aggressive here because there’s so many bad places to miss. But Phil had so much — still has, probably — faith in his short game that if he does miss an approach shot by being aggressive, he still feels he can get that ball up and down. I would say by becoming a better putter and by maybe working on my short game a little bit and becoming better around the greens, that probably allowed me to become more aggressive with my approach play at Augusta.”

McIlroy said that over the years, the demands of Augusta National have made his approach play more tentative, and that’s when you leave yourself in bad spots. But when he learned to start playing more aggressively, it paid off.

He could even look back at his final round last year and find examples. He piled up birdies while being aggressive on the front nine, but once he got the lead and got to the back nine, he changed the way he played.

“The first time that my mindset or my tactics went a little bit defensive, like trying to protect the lead, that’s when I got into trouble,” McIlroy said. “Obviously what happened on 13 (double bogey) and on 14 (bogey), and when I got to 15, again, I needed to be aggressive. I needed to make a birdie again, and I was able to do it. So there’s probably a lesson in there somewhere of not taking your foot off the gas. I thought I was sort of doing the smart thing by playing 13 as a three-shotter and trying to protect the lead that I built. But in hindsight, everything that went well for me that day and that week was when I played aggressively, when I went for my shots. That’s probably the lesson to learn.”

Barcelona fans online were left in awe of Raphinha after his performance vs Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg. The Catalans secured an 8-3 aggregate win over the Magpies over both legs on March 18.

Raphinha had an exceptional game, scoring twice and assisting two more. He had five out of five shots on target, delivered six key passes, and created three big chances. The Brazilian was pivotal to Barcelona’s victory in the game, while both Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal also combined well with him as a trio to create momentum in the attack.

Fans showered praise on Raphinha after the game, with many recognizing how he has delivered in significant games since last season. One Culer wrote on X:

“This frontline cooked heavily. Raphinha is just the best big match player.”

Many other users shared similar sentiments:

Fans continued to share their thoughts on Raphinha’s performance:

Note: All in-game statistics were taken from SofaScore as of writing and are subject to change per the website’s prerogative.

Barcelona boss Hansi Flick claims they cannot think of winning the Champions League ‘yet’

In the post-match press conference, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick made a clear statement about his next mission. The German mentioned it is not yet the time to think about winning the Champions League, as they have to take it step by step.

“We can’t think about winning the Champions League just yet. We have to go step by step, match by match… Both Atletico and Tottenham are really great teams and we will have to fight,” he said (via Barca Universal).

Barcelona will face either Atletico Madrid or Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter finals based on who wins their clash tonight. However, Los Colchoneros are more likely to be their opponent, given they are leading 5-2 over the Spurs from the first leg.

Flick also addressed the caveats in the Blaugrana defence, adding:

“We have to analyze this game. The defence is doing a really great job, and they have to play every minute. We have to think about that. We don’t have a lot of options to play. After the break we will get some players back, so we can improve in defence.”

Earlier this season, Barcelona lost 4-3 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-finals. If they face the Spaniards in the Champions League quarter-finals, it could be their chance at redemption. However, Simeone’s side will not be an easy one to tackle given their form.