Real Madrid secured defeated holders Manchester City penalties and advanced to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday evening.
Kyle Walker was passed fit for City and returned with goalkeeper Ederson, whilst Madrid went for the same eleven from the first-leg a week ago.
Los Blancos pulled ahead in the 12th minute as Rodrygo went in space from good work by Federico Valverde and fired in on the rebound after Ederson parried his initial strike.
City’s sharp-shooter Erling Haaland could’ve drawn them level around the half-hour mark from a header off Kevin De Bruyne’s floating ball, but went across the face of goal.
It was extremely tight throughout given the stakes involved, as persistent play from Haaland very nearly forced Nacho Fernandez to an own-goal before the Spaniard recovered to clear off the line.
The Citizens didn’t give up and levelled inside the final ten minutes when Kevin De Bruyne made full use of a loose clearance from Antonio Rudiger to riffle in the roof of the net.
Given the tight contest with very few chances, no further goals arrived and a period of extra-time followed where Rudiger missed a glorious chance in the first stanza when he volleyed over from Brahim Diaz’s cross.
As the even spell continued, penalties were required to settle the contest and two misses in the shoot-out were enough to lead the LaLiga go on to convert four of their five to advance to the semi-finals as Jude Bellingham netted the decisive kick.
Bayern Munich 1-0 Arsenal
Bayern Munich sustained a stubborn Arsenal to progress to the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate in a quarter-final second-leg clash in Munich.
Alphonso Davies was unavailable following suspension, with Noussair Mazraoui coming in and Raphael Guerreiro replacing injured Serge Gnabry, as the Gunners restored Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Both teams weren’t at each other during the opening exchanges before the Gunners captain Martin Odegaard forced Manuel Neuer to a save after firing in a curling shot around the half-hour mark.
Neuer was called to action again in the matter of minutes when he charged out to narrow the angle and thwart Gabriel Martinelli finishing a cutback from none other than Odegaard.
Bayern remained confident though and were rewarded midway in the second half when Joshua Kimmich made a late entry to the area to head in Guerreiro’s cross.
The Premier League giants could not find a reply thereafter- leaving the sixth-time champions to march into the semi-finals alongside Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.
Semi-Final Fixtures:
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Paris Saint-Germain v Borussia Dortmund
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
