The first four teams advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals have been confirmed, and the remaining four round of 16-fixtures will be played next week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Arsenal`s Champions League campaign ended once again at this stage of the competition in a humiliating way, as they lost 10-2 on aggregate to their rivals from Germany Bayern Munchen. The second fixture between these clubs looked promising for The Gunners as Theo Walcott scored for the London club in the first half, raising hope for Wenger's squad towards the second half. Only ten minutes in the second half Arsenal`s captain, French center-back Laurent Koscielny tackles Robert Lewandowski in the penalty area and receives a red card. Lewandowski does not waste the opportunity and scores from the penalty shot, tying the game. With the one man advantage on the pitch, Bayern Munchen dominates the second half, scoring five goals behind Arsenals goalkeeper David Ospina. Winning both the first and second leg 5-1, Bayern Munchen proves that they are still one of the best clubs in Europe, and rightfully take the first spot in the top 8 of this year's Champions League.
 |
| Trailing by 4-0, Barcelona made greatest of comebacks of all time to seal the quarter final berth by winning 6-5 on aggregate © FC Barcelona |
Napoli had a two goal disadvantage coming to the second leg against Real Madrid. Southern Italy`s pride Napoli had obviously not given up hope to advance in this match-pair, and started off really well in the second fixture, taking control of the game from kick-off. A beautiful passing combination sets up Drie Mertens at 24 minutes, and the 29-year old Belgian striker scores his 23rd goal this season for Napoli giving them a 1-0 lead over Los Blancos which they maintain until half time. Napoli`s dream of advancing to the quarter-finals gets crushed quickly after the second half kicks-off, as Real Madrid`s captain Sergio Ramos nets two headers in five minutes, the Spanish center back is well known for his tendency to score for his team in important matches and he does not let his team down this time either. The final score 1-3 is a big disappointment for the Italians who still haven't advanced further than this stage of the competition, but a well deserved seventh consecutive round of 16 tie win for Real Madrid in Champions League.
Borussia Dortmund had no problem turning the one goal disadvantage against Benfica to a 4-1 win on aggregate. Already in the first leg, the Germans controlled the pitch and were very unlucky to lose the game as Benfica scored from their only shot on goal. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who had a handful of missed chances in the first leg, hold the key to Dortmund`s 4-0 victory, netting a hat-trick. With a total of only three shots on target in the two matches for Benfica, there is no doubt about who should qualify from this match-pair. Dortmund is the second German team in the top 8 of the competition this year.
Unai Emery started his task as Paris Saint-Germaine`s manager last summer, as he was recruited there in the clubs hope of getting better results in the European competitions this season. Three weeks ago in Paris, PSG humiliated Barcelona by winning the Spanish giants 4-0. This defeat was the biggest in Barcelona`s Champions League history, and a miracle was needed to turn this match-pair around in the second leg, as no team before has qualified after losing 4-0 in the first leg. PSG had a very comfortable lead coming to Camp Nou this Wednesday and decided to protect it by playing very defensively. This was a big mistake, and already in the third minute of play, Luis Suàrez scores with a header, and Barcelona has started the chase. There is no resemblance with the PSG at Camp Nou and the same team in Paris three weeks ago, the French did not come to Barcelona to win the game and their left wingback Layvin Kurzawa unluckily scores an own goal intercepting Andres Iniesta's pass towards the goal, giving Barca a 2-0 lead before half time. Five minutes in the second half, Messi scores from a penalty shot making it 3-0, and the crowd at Camp Nou starts believing in Barca`s impossible comeback. Barca`s momentum suffers heavily when Edison Cavani scores his 38th goal for PSG this season, with only half an hour left to play, Barcelona has to score three more goals in order to qualify. Late in the game, just before full time, Neymar scores twice raising Barcelona`s hopes up once more, then five minutes into stoppage time, Sergi Roberto seals Barca`s victory, scoring their sixth goal and the final score 6-1 is enough for Barcelona to qualify for the quarter-finals. With this win, Barcelona is the first team to advance after losing the first game 4-0. The spirit of this team can most likely guide them all the way to the final in Cardiff this summer. What a comeback by Barcelona!
Two teams from Germany, and two teams from Spain are playing in the quarter-finals of Champions League this year. Who will join them next week?
No comments:
Post a Comment