After the first part of the revamped format of the Champions League, the time had come for the good old knockout phase, the so called ‘do-or-die’. We had a handful of interesting matchups, so let’s dive straight in to remind ourselves of how it all went down.
PSG-Liverpool; Agg. 1-1, PSG advance on penalties
The first leg in Paris was one of those that really makes you understand sir Alex’s famous quote – football, bloody hell. 27 shots, 70% ball possession and numerous situations created for PSG against Liverpool weren’t enough to win that game. On the contrary, they lost to a Reds team that only took two shots during the entire match.
The return leg at Anfield promised to be a cracker and it did not disappoint. An action-packed evening somehow only saw one goal, and it was again the visitors that found the net. After 210 minutes of football nothing separated the two sides, so it all came down to penalties.
Luis Enrique’s footballers managed to keep their cool, netting all of their penalties, and they hade huge help from Gianluigi Donnarumma who made two saves and launched PSG into the quarter final at the expense of the #1 seeded team after the league phase.
Liverpool’s talisman, Mohamed Salah, and his struggle to impose himself on PSG’s Nuno Mendes were definitely one of the biggest talking points of the tie.
Aston Villa – Club Brugge; Agg. 6-1
After causing what many saw as an upset in the playoff round by knocking out Atalanta, Club Brugge certainly fancied their chances after seeing their draw for the next round.
Same, though, could be said for Aston Villa who secured their top 8 spot and waited patiently to see who’s next. Unai Emery’s side managed to break a close-fought encounter in their favour in the closing 10 minutes, scoring twice to create a solid cushion for the second leg in Birmingham.
The second leg was somewhat similar, as it only took a period of 10 minutes for Aston Villa to put everything beyond doubt – three goals in the second half set up a big party in Birmingham as Unai Emery signed off another of his big European masterclass performances.
Real Madrid – Atlético Madrid; Agg. 2-2, Real Madrid advance on penalties
Real Madrid, the absolute undisputed kings of the Champions League, always turn the most heads and draw the most attention. That’s just how it works. and when they’re matched up with their city rivals, Atlético, in the Champions League, you can imagine the magnitude of the event.
Well… it did not disappoint. Los Blancos made the most of their home advantage, beating Atlético 2-1 in a match that saw three spectacular goals. The return leg started with a shock when Conor Gallagher undid Real Madrid’s advantage in the very first minute, but it never really picked up from there, leaving it all to be decided on penalties.
Well, as if the penalties weren’t dramatic enough on their own, the Wednesday evening in Madrid gave us another touch of unprecedented drama. Just as Fede Valverde was preparing to take his kick, following Julian Álvarez‘s successful attempt, everyone stopped to have a look at what the referee was doing. Penalty check! What?! Well… it turns out Álvarez slipped in the run up to his penalty which caused his left foot to have the slightest of touches with the ball before smashing it in the net with his right… a two-touch penalty is not allowed, and was thus overturned and counted as a miss.
The drama, however, did not end there. When Jan Oblak saved Lucas Vázquez‘s attempt, Atlético were all but back in the game. Then… then Marcos Llorente hit the crossbar, and after Oblak spilled Rüdiger‘s shot after having read it successfully, it meant the kings of the competition were through to the next round… yet again!
Arsenal – PSV Eindhoven; Agg. 9-3
After knocking out Juventus in the previous round and without seeing their team lose a home game in Europe for 10 matches, PSV fans showed up at their home ground with high hopes. They left, however, with a trauma that could take a lot to heal.
The Gunners, on the other side, who were struggling to find the net in the Premier League, came to The Netherlands to do their nickname justice. And, boy, did they do it! They absolutely embarassed PSV by scoring 7 past them, and only conceding one!
The return leg in London was a closely-fought one in which PSV proved their worth drawing 2-2, but it was way too little and way too late after the abysmal showing in the first leg.
Benfica – Barcelona; Agg. 1-4
The two giants of the Iberian peninsula met in the penultimate round of the league phase and gave us a night that’ll be long remembered – Benfica were up by 2 with just over 20 minutes to go only for Barça to snatch the victory with the final kick of the game following an inspired, historical comeback.
So, when the draw put them together in the Round of 16, for many it was a guarantee of yet another two exciting clashes. Well.. it wasn’t far from true, even though it might not have been exactly what we’d expected. In the first leg in Lisbon, Barcelona’s goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny made sure we got our dosis of history. His spectacular shot stopping frustrated Benfica who failed to capitalize the man advantage they had for more than 70 minutes after Pau Cubarsí saw the red card. To make matters worse for the Portuguese, they had to travel to Barcelona with a deficit after Raphinha surprised them with a dagger just past the hour mark.
In Barcelona, it was a completely different dance. Led by their magicians on the wings, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, Hansi Flick’s men made it look easy and sealed their spot in the top 8 with a convincing display worthy of a 3-1 victory.
Borussia Dortmund – Lille; Agg. 3-2
Further up north, a pairing that saw two of the tournament’s potential dark horses lock horns. Borussia Dortmund, last season’s unlikely finalists have had a turbulent season, struggling in their championship and changing managers in the process. Their European campaign on the other hand, was looking nice and solid. Lille’s was looking even better, as nobody had really considered them as candidates for the top 8 spots, but they snatched 5 wins in the league phase and ended it in 7th place.
Two closely-fought encounters saw the Germans, the more experienced, tested side in such affairs, snatch the goal advantage and proceed to the final 8 after winning in France thanks to two second-half goals and the composure and concentration necessary to withstand Lille’s pressure.
Bayer Leverkusen – Bayern München; Agg. 0-5
Alongside the Madrid derby, there was another heated neighbours’ affair. That of Bayern München, the undisputed ruler of proceedings in German football, and Bayer Leverkusen, the young, brave bunch that had the nerve to upset the ranks and knock Bayern of their Bundesliga throne.
Keeping in mind the fact that the Bavarians haven’t been able to beat Leverkusen in any of their last six encounters leading up to this clash, and the fact that when they last met in February, Leverkusen absolutely dominated the entire match, you could see why many saw this one as a 50-50 affair, with those giving advantage to Leverkusen being far from minority.
Bayern had different plan though. They set out to clearly demonstrate who’s who in Europe and they did it in a very convincing manner, with a 5-0 aggregate win. Leverkusen weren’t up to the task and, even though they did deserve to score at least once in the 180 minutes, they had no answer for Bayern’s firepower.
Inter Milan – Feyenoord; Agg. 4-1
Similar to PSV, Feyenoord got their hopes up after beating the other Milan-based team in the previous round. Even though they found themselves amidst a lot of problems and in the middle of a managerial change with club icon Robin van Persie taking over, they quietly hoped they could cause another upset, this time against Inter.
Simone Inzaghi’s impeccably organized side took care of business as they usually do – with a convincing, structured, almost routined manner. Lautaro and Thuram in the first leg, and then Çalhanoglu and Thuram again in the second made sure that I Nerazzurri find their spot in the top 8 without much fuss. Kudos to Feyenord, however, as they became only the third (!) side to score a goal past Inter’s defence in this season’s Champions League.
What’s next?
The next couple of weeks will, unfortunately, see no Champions League action as we’ve reached the business end of the competition and fewer and fewer matches are left to be played. Those that are coming are more than promising, though!
The bottom part of the tree is the one that seems to draw the most interest, with two huge pairings. Arsenal face their toughest test yet, going toe-to-toe with Real Madrid. The Gunners might feel they have history on their side as Los Blancos never managed to beat them. The two sides met in the 2005/06 Round of 16 and drew 0-0 at Highbury before Thierry Henry stunned the Bernabéu with a magical solo effort to kick off Arsenal’s route to the final.
Elsewhere, Inter and Bayern München promises to be a memorable one as well, as both come in great shape and as hungry for glory as ever. Revenge for 2010 on the cards, Bayern fans?
The remaining two semifinals might not feature the frontrunners of European football’s last decade, but they definitely won’t lack any excitement. Borussia and Barcelona already met in the group phase in a five-goal thriller that saw Blaugrana steal the win at the death, similar to what they did against Benfica.
Two Spanish managers will face each other in the other matchup, with Unai Emery maybe having a bit more of a spark when facing one of his former clubs. The expert of knock-out European ties faces a PSG team that is finally set up just the way Luis Enrique wanted it and looks formidable on all fronts, scoring goals for fun.
With matches as evenly-balanced as they are, it’s probably best to just sit on the fence as far as predictions are concerned. What we can hope for and, dare we say it, be sure of is that there’ll certainly be plenty of action and excitement!