Champions League: Real Madrid, PSG cruise into QF, Arsenal, Sporting CP stage stunning comeback
Real Madrid, PSG, Arsenal, and Sporting CP have advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals. Real Madrid defeated Manchester City, PSG overcame Chelsea, Arsenal triumphed over Leverkusen, and Sporting CP staged a thrilling comeback against Bodo/Glimt
New Delhi: Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain comfortably saw off English opponents Manchester City and Chelsea, while Arsenal battled past Leverkusen and Sporting CP mounted a memorable comeback against Bodo/Glimt as the first four teams through to the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals are confirmed.
Real Madrid knocked Manchester City out of the competition for the third campaign running following Vinicius Junior’s double.
Man City, 3-0 down from the first leg, came racing out of the blocks looking for the goal that could possibly spark a memorable comeback.
But a combination of keeper Thibaut Courtois and several near misses kept the score goalless until a penalty that resulted in Bernardo’s dismissal – and a goal for Madrid on 20 minutes – made an arduous task nearly impossible.
City never gave up hope and deservedly levelled the scores on 41 minutes through Erling Haaland, with Jeremy Doku and Ryan Ait-Nouri having goals disallowed after the break.
It was always going to be a big ask, but the Blues couldn’t have tried much harder, and Vinicius Jr scoring with the last kick to give the Spaniards a 2-1 victory felt incredibly harsh.
Meanwhile, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Senny Mayulu struck as PSG cruised past Chelsea with an 8-2 aggregate victory in London.
Kvaratskhelia, whose late double sealed a 5-2 first-leg win, held off Mamadou Sarr to fire in from inside the box after six minutes. Barcola, who scored the opening goal of the tie six days earlier, added to his tally by curling in clinically to complete a rapid break by the visitors in the 15th minute.
Half-time substitute Mayulu followed suit 17 minutes after the restart with a superb finish for the holders, who will meet Liverpool or Galatasaray in the quarter-finals, UEFA reports.
Elsewhere, a thunderous effort from Eberechi Eze was the catalyst as Arsenal claimed a quarter-final spot at Leverkusen’s expense with a 3-1 aggregate win.
Mikel Arteta’s side dominated much of the first half, and the visitors relied on their goalkeeper Janis Blaswich to make a series of good saves from the likes of Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard. Eze’s explosive strike on the turn shortly before the break, after a smart one-touch passing move, finally put the hosts in front. England midfielder Rice stroked in a smooth second to give the Premier League club a deserved 3-1 aggregate success.
Scintillating Sporting CP became just the fifth team in Champions League history to overcome a first-leg deficit of three goals or more, striking twice in extra time to complete a memorable comeback against Bodo/Glimt.
Trailing 3-0 after last week’s first leg in Norway, the hosts made the breakthrough when Goncalo Inácio rose to head in a corner. They kept the pressure on in the second half and got their reward when Pedro Gonçalves finished off a brilliant team move, before Luis Suárez converted a penalty with 12 minutes remaining.
In extra time, Maximiliano Araújo quickly fired in to spark delirium, and Rafael Nel slammed in a late fifth as Sporting reached the quarter-finals for the first time since the 1982/83 European Cup.
