Champions League Quarterfinal first leg review
Manchester City 3 – 0 Bayern Munich
After one leg in the quarterfinals, City have complete control of the tie. A stunning first-half strike by Rodri set the tone for Guardiola’s men to run riot in the second half with two more goals to all but secure their place in the semifinals. Goal machine Erling Haaland added to his Champions League goal tally and Portuguese winger Bernardo Silva scored a header in the second half of the game. Thomas Tuchel’s first UCL game as Bayern manager could not have ended worse as the five time winners didn’t come close to the English favourites. City will take their three-goal lead to Munich next week as they look to book their place against either Real Madrid or Chelsea in the semifinals, after a stunning display which cements their reputation as the favourites to lift this year’s trophy.
Real Madrid 2 – 0 Chelsea
Talisman Karim Benzema put the hosts in front in the first half after a dominant display from Los Blancos. The Chelsea side led by Frank Lampard offered nothing in the game with a poor performance that looked like damage limitation from the first whistle. A tough task was made even harder around the hour mark as fullback Ben Chilwell was shown a red card for a professional foul against Brazilian youngster Rodrygo. A second was scored by Marcos Asensio as the game fizzled out with little drama. Chelsea will have a slimmer of hope at progressing to the next round in a week’s time at Stamford Bridge as it has become a difficult away ground for teams in Europe during recent years. Chairman Tod Boehly confidently predicted a three–nil victory for his side ahead of the game in Spain’s capital, he will hope they can produce that scoreline in London to get through to the last four.
AC Milan 1 – 0 Napoli
The sleeping giants of European football, AC Milan are on course for their first Champions League semifinal for the first time since 2007. A first half winner from Ismael Bennacer saw them edge a narrow victory over their Italian counterparts. Napoli are runaway leaders in Serie A, 22 points ahead of Milan and are in the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time in their history. However, the side from Naples were thrashed by Milan earlier in the month with a 4-0 defeat and were without star-striker Victor Osimhen due to injury in the first leg of this tie. A very close game became hard for Napoli to turn around after they went down to 10 men in the 74th minute where Frank Anguissa was sent off for two bookable offences. It will be a showdown match next week in Naples to see who will make the last four as many will still think Napoli can make it through despite Milan’s goal advantage. The winner is likely to play Inter Milan in the next round as they have a two goal lead over Portuguese outfit Benfica, which could set up a potential Milan derby in the semi-finals, in what would be a must watch game for all football fans.