(Photo by David Wyngard)
Wow. The Champions League never fails to surprise us. The second legs of the quarter-final ties were played this week, with 8 teams scrambling to make their way to the semi-final of club football’s most prestigious competition. As usual with the Champions League, nothing is ever as easy or simple as it may seem, with a magnitude of twists and turns taking place over the two games and bringing some major surprises to set up the latter games. On the Tuesday Chelsea had to mount a near impossible comeback away at the Burnabeu against Real Madrid, whilst Villarreal had to once again upset German giants Bayern Munich to secure a semi-final place. Whereas the Wednesday saw Manchester City arrive to the fortress of the Wanda Metropolitano to try and add to their 1-0 win in the first leg, whilst Liverpool had to keep their composure to stifle a Benfica comeback.
Tuesday:
After a deserved 3-1 loss at home, Chelsea had a gargantuan task put before them if they wanted to stamp a place in the semi-finals, and oh boy did they give it a go. It was the blues who drew first blood in this tie, with an early Mason Mount goal being crucial in shifting the momentum of the tie and inspiring an incredible comeback. 1-0 became 2-0 as Rudiger thumped a header (which was been the theme of this tie), to bring the tie to 3-3 and Chelsea didn’t stop there. Marcos Alonso had a goal ruled out for handball which temporarily deflated Chelsea’s comeback, however, a silky goal from Timo Werner made the game 3-0 and seemingly completing one of the most incredible European comebacks in history. But if Real Madrid know one thing, it’s how to punish mistakes on the stage where they are the most decorated like the Champions League, with Luka Modric pouncing on a misplaced pass from Kante to produce a spectacular outside the foot through ball for Rodrygo to emphatically finish and send the game to extra time at 4-4 on aggregate. Chelsea had a few very good chances to put the game to bed before full time, with Pulisic and Havertz missing some crucial chances and keeping Madrid in the game. With extra time underway there was only ever going to be one man to win this game, and indeed Karim Benzema, the man in the form of his life, scored his 38th goal of the season (another header) to send Madrid through to the Semi Finals to spare their blushes. One of the greatest Champions League matches I have had the privilege to see, and Madrid will want to make sure they tighten up at the back for that crucial semi-final tie.
Shaking off an embarrassing result in the last leg was on the mind for Bayern as they hoped to take Villarreal to the sword at home and progress, but things were never going to be that easy. Unai Emery’s side were incredibly organised all night and made it tough for Nagelsmann’s side to break them down, with Villarreal looking to pounce whenever they were given a rare chance. After a cagey first half the deadlock was finally broken as Robert Lewandowski proved once again why he is one of, if not the greatest goal scorer in the game right now, getting Bayern back to 1-1 on aggregate. With the game destined for extra time you got a general sense that the experience of Bayern in these crucial games was going to prevail and see them scrape through in the end, but how wrong you (and pretty much everyone else) would be. Chukewueze pounced on a lovely ball around the back of the Bayern defence in the 88th minute and placed it emphatically in the roof of the net to send the away section of the Allianz Arena into euphoria and into the semi-finals. Overall Villarreal organised themselves incredibly well and thoroughly deserved to go through over the two legs, with Bayern left scratching their heads at such an upset. Unai Emery is one of European football’s most underrated managers and nobody gave his side a chance before kick-off, even with a 1-0 lead from the first leg. With a place in the semi-finals, it is very much the underdog story that the likes of Ajax and Monaco have coined in previous seasons, and it remains one of the most refreshing stories in this illustrious competition.
Wednesday:
After possibly one of the most boring games I have ever seen, the tie was still wide open between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, as City’s slim 1-0 lead could easily be undone in Madrid. This game, however, was anything but boring in terms of not necessarily on the ball action, but absolutely off the ball action. A predictably scrappy affair was escalated to new heights towards the end of the game as Felipe lashed out at Phil Foden resulting in a mass scuffle. My favourite moment in the scuffle being Jack Grealish calling Savic a ‘C***’ before having his hair yanked by the Montenegro international. Say what you will about how Atletico play football, but one thing you cannot fault is the passion and drive their players have, willing to go to war for Diego Simeone. The last 10 minutes of this game in particular were a blockbuster. Fights, missed chances, close efforts, it had it all. Towards the start of the game Felipe produced a horrible challenge on Foden which resulted in him having a bandage around his head for the rest of the game. City had a magnitude of chances throughout the game, with Gundogan hitting the post, De Bruyne having a shot blocked, constantly knocking on the door to kill the tie off. Felix and Griezmann had some great chances to get back in the tie towards the start of the second half but just couldn’t put it in the net. The momentum had very much swung in Atletico’s direction as they desperately tried to claw their way back into the game, with some crucial blocks by Laporte. 12 minutes of added time were played after the Felipe scuffle with Atletico’s biggest chance falling to Correa who hit it at Ederson with the game finishing 0-0 on the night with City progressing with a 1-0 aggregate score. What a game.
After a 3-1 win away in Portugal, Liverpool could not afford complacency when bringing Benfica back to Anfield for the second leg. Benfica were not going down without a fight though, with an entertaining 3-3 draw unfolding over the night at Anfield. Liverpool struck the first blow as Konate put Jurgen Klopp’s side in a seemingly unreachable position with a solid header from a corner, being 4-1 up on aggregate. After a beautiful chip was disallowed by Darwin Nunez, Benfica responded in kind 10 minutes later as Gonçalo Ramos found himself through on goal and hit an emphatic finish to bring the tie to 4-2. Luiz Diaz is a name familiar to Benfica fans from his time at Porto and he again proved why he is one of the signings of the season with the way he terrorised the Benfica defence throughout. Roberto Firmino failed to pounce on the Benfica keeper being in no man’s land with a huge chance. The next goals were crucial in the tie and ultimately belonged to Roberto Firmino who this time didn’t fail to capitalise on the keeper’s mistake after a fumbled save to tap in his first, before cleverly finishing a well worked free kick routine to extended the tie to 6-2. But again this didn’t deflate Benfica as Yaramchuk rounded Allison made the tie 6-3 before starlet Darwin Nunez squared the game at 3-3 with a clever chip on the night and a respectable 6-4 on aggregate. Big shoutout as well to Martin Keown on commentary who got absolutely every offside call wrong even with replays and freeze-frames at his disposal and proving what a doughnut he is. Allison was relied on to make a couple of big saves towards the end of the game which could have changed the complexion of the game if he had gotten them wrong. One thing Liverpool got wrong on the night was the shape of that defensive line, with an offside trap failing to work twice and resulting in conceding 2 easily preventable goals if their defenders just stayed in their line. Despite this, Liverpool still remain one of, if not the outright favourites for the competition, whilst Benfica can hold their heads high after a valiant performance from their young starlets that I’m sure will get big moves in the summer transfer window. Darwin Nunez in particular is going to be a star.
Semi Final Ties:
So the Semi Finals are comprised of 2 English teams and two Spanish teams, with the incredibly likely possibility of the 3rd all English final in the last 4 years. An incredible stat. Especially considering the grasp that Spanish football had on this competition throughout the 2010’s. Manchester City will take on Real Madrid, whilst Liverpool will take on Villarreal. Either way it isn’t going to be a cake walk for whoever ends up taking home the Champions League trophy in May and hopefully we have a few more incredible contests as we have seen so far in this campaign. At the end of the campaign we will revisit my previous predictions against FIFA 22 (check out that article if you haven't already) and see how close or far away we were in the end. My prediction for the final is still very much a possibility.
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