And then there were four.
The quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League wrapped up this week as four teams will continue on in their quest to clinch a spot in the final in Istanbul on June 10.
An all-Serie A contest awaits in the next round as AC Milan will clash with bitter city rivals Inter Milan, Real Madrid remains on course to repeat as champions, and Manchester City easily brushed aside Bayern Munich.
Here’s what stood out from the second leg of the quarter-finals:
Manchester City finishes off Bayern Munich
Real Madrid might be the defending Champions League holders, but Manchester City looks like the team to beat as we get down to the business end of this year’s tournament. The Blues walloped Bavarian giants Bayern Munich 3-0 at home last week, and then marched into Germany on Wednesday and earned a 1-1 draw to punch their ticket for the final four.
Norwegian forward Erling Haaland ballooned his penalty shot attempt over the bar in the first half, but then made up for it when he opened the scoring in the 57th minute via a perfectly executed counterattack.
Manchester City is only the third English team to qualify for the semifinals in three consecutive years, equalling the mark set by Chelsea and Manchester United when they both did it between 2006-07 to 2008-09.
A date with Real Madrid in the next round looms, and even though the Spaniards are the defending champions, it’s difficult to look past Manchester City as the favourites. Pep Guardiola has an incredibly balanced and deep squad that can overwhelm teams with their attack one week (like they did against Bayern in the first leg) and professionally manage the game and grind it out the next week (like they did on Wednesday in Germany).
Haaland now has 48 goals in all competitions this season, including a tournament-leading 12 in the Champions League. But his biggest test lies ahead. Real Madrid is no soft touch and will be coming off three clean sheets in this year’s Champions League when they host Man City in the first leg next month.
Inter Milan advances after drawing Benfica
After more than a decade since lifting the Champions League trophy for a third time, Inter Milan is back in the semifinals of the competition, having comfortably dispatched Benfica over two legs. The Nerazzurri earned a 2-0 win in Lisbon last week which gave them a major advantage coming home to San Siro for Wednesday’s return match.
Nicolò Barella, Lautaro Martinez and Joaquin Correa all scored exquisite goals to give the Italians a 3-1 lead after 78 minutes to put the series beyond the Portuguese’s reach. Late goals by António Silva and Petar Musa saw Benfica earn a 3-3 draw on the night but lose 5-3 on aggregate.
It was a big night for Martinez, a member of Argentina’s World Cup-winning side from Qatar. Having failed to score in his previous nine Champions League matches, he finally came good against Benfica in the 65th minute when he fired into the roof of the net from in close after a pretty give-and-go between teammates Federico Demarco and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Pressure had been mounting on Martinez in recent weeks, especially as Inter Milan had lost its form in Serie A in recent weeks, suffering losses to modest provincial sides Monza and Spezia.
But the Argentine ace has a knack for coming up big when his team needs him the most, and never seemed to lose his confidence as his goal drought dragged on.
“There are moments in football, sometimes the ball goes in and sometimes it doesn’t,” Martinez told Amazon Prime Video Italia after the match.
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Leão, Maignan superb in AC Milan’s win
AC Milan is through to the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time since 2007 after earning a 1-1 draw away to Napoli on Tuesday, a result that was good enough for the Rossoneri, following last week’s 1-0 win at San Siro in the opening leg.
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona has become a fortress for Napoli, and visiting teams have not had the easiest of times there. But Milan showed no signs of being intimidated, as it controlled the game with a defensive display that can best be described as a masterclass, while its probing attack kept Napoli on its toes all night.
Olivier Giroud squandered two glorious scoring chances in the first half, including a failed penalty attempt. The Frenchman finally came good just before halftime when he swept home a shot from eight yards out. Giroud will get the credit, but it was AC Milan’s Rafael Leão who did all the grunt work.
The young Portuguese pounced on a giveaway, and then went on a scintillating run reminiscent of Thierry Henry during his prime as he breezed past a number of Napoli defenders before pulling goalkeeper Alex Meret out of position once he was inside the penalty area. All Giroud had to do was take Leão’s feed from across the box and slot it home.
At the other end of the field, Milan’s Mike Maignan showed why he is one of the most under-rated goalkeepers in the world by making four saves, including a crucial stop on a penalty attempt by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the 82nd minute. Napoli’s Victor Osimhen equalized three minutes into stoppage time with a bullet header. But by that time, it was too late.
“I saw an enormous sacrifice from my players, we trusted each other and our way of playing football to overcome a great Napoli side that caused us problems over both legs. We won it with heart, energy and belief,” AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli told Italian broadcaster Mediaset after the game.
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Another semifinal appearance for Real Madrid
Sitting on a two-goal advantage from last week’s opening leg, Real Madrid finished off Chelsea with another 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
Los blancos put the struggling London-based club out of its misery with a professional performance to advance to the final four of the Champions League for the 16th time, more than any other team in the competition’s history, and for the 11th time in 13 seasons. Young Brazilian forward Rodrygo bagged a brace for the Spanish outfit, and now has 13 goals in all competitions this season.
Chelsea put up a valiant fight for the better part of an hour and finished the game with 19 shots. But the Blues lacked a cutting edge in losing for the fourth time in a row since former star midfielder Frank Lampard returned as interim manager earlier this month.
An unheralded hero on the night for Real was goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who made an important save just before halftime to thwart his old club. Reece James was Chelsea’s most dangerous player on Tuesday, with his best moment coming when he delivered a ball across the penalty area for teammate Marc Cucurella. The Spaniard looked poised to give Chelsea the lead going into the break, but Courtois read the play brilliantly and smothered the ball to snuff out the danger.
“The big Courtois save was very important. We didn’t want them to go ahead,” Real manager Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.
“That could have been worrying. As the second half developed, we were stronger, we created space to open up quality transitions. By the end, we had produced a very complete performance. We hit a good level.”
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.
