The first leg of the Champions League Quarterfinals is over, and here’s how the eight teams stand going into the second leg.
The biggest matchup of the quarter-finals pits Manchester City against Bayern Munich. It was a hard-fought match in which Manchester City emerged as the better side.
Bayern has had a whirlwind month which has seen them change head coaches and exit the German Cup. Julian Nagelsmann was relieved of his duties and was immediately replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who only took charge of three games before the Champions League tie.
Manchester City has been chasing Arsenal in the Premier League title race but had to put their league push on hold to focus on Bavarian opposition.
Rodri scored the first goal of the match in a moment of brilliance where he curled the ball sweetly into the upper corner past the diving Yann Sommer. Bernardo Silva added a second goal midway through the second half after a Dayot Upamecano error, heading the ball past Sommer. Erling Haaland had a somewhat quiet game, by his standards at least, only scoring a single goal to cap off the night.
While he didn’t have a terrible game, questions will definitely be arising over Sommer’s head, having joined Bayern as a replacement for the injured Manuel Neuer. He didn’t look to be 100% composed throughout the 90 minutes and had his share of nervy moments. The goalkeeper and the entire defense will have to be stronger if they hope of coming back in the second leg.
Benfica has done really well to make it this far into the competition, but Inter Milan may have been too big of an ask for them. If Inter are able to hold on to their lead, they will ensure that at least one Italian team will feature in this year’s final.
Benfica was the stronger of the two sides in the opening half, putting pressure on the 2010 treble-winning club. Joao Mario had another strong game and was a standout for the Portuguese side, but they were just unable to come out on top.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi opted to start Edin Dzeko over Romelu Lukaku, despite having not scored since January. A somewhat disappointing first half from the Italians was instantly forgotten as Nicolo Barella opened the scoring in the 51st minute.
Dzeko would go another game without scoring as Lukaku replaced him in the 63rd minute and scored his second penalty in as many weeks twenty minutes later. Inter lead the tie 2-0, giving Benfica a massive uphill battle next week.
AC Milan and Napoli met just two weeks ago in the Serie A, and Milan were 4-0 victors. Both sides have had incredible seasons. Milan are the current ‘Scudetto’ holders and Napoli is on course to win it this year. This is the furthest Milan has made it in the Champions League in over 10 years, and they’ll be looking to add an 8th European trophy to their cabinet.
Rumors continue to surround Brahim Diaz’s future as he put in another brilliant performance for Milan in the Champions League, wonderfully setting up the opening goal.
Napoli saw more of the ball and more chances in the opening half but struggled to find their way past an inform Mike Maignan. Starboy Kvaratskhelia and the rest of his team were unable to convert any of their first half chances.
Milan controlled the game better in the second half, but Napoli was still creating chance after chance, just unable to find the back of the net. AC Milan’s defense held strong throughout the entire match, and held onto a clean sheet to aid their side in victory.
Napoli hold onto their lead lead, but will face a tough challenge next week trying to turn this tie in their favor.
Real Madrid and Chelsea is a direct rematch of last year’s Quarter-final, yet the two sides are in very different positions. Chelsea are onto their fourth manager of the season, whereas Madrid are looking to do a European and domestic cup double this year.
Lampard’s ‘new-old’ look Chelsea started the game strong and had the first few opportunities. They were exploiting the space left open by Madrid, allowing players like Joao Felix to get shots on target. The London club was somewhat unlucky not to score in the opening half thanks to a brilliant performance from Thibaut Courtois.
In the 21st minute, Madrid’s brilliance shined through, as Dani Carvajal connected with Vinicius Jr. before Karim Benzema finished the chance off the give Madrid the lead.’Los Blancos’ set a number of balls over the top past Chelsea’s defense, but only converted one chance in the opening 45.
Ben Chilwell received a red card in the 58th minute, denying Vinicius a 1v1 with Kepa Arrizabalaga. Chelsea resorted to a more defensive approach for the final 30 minutes in an attempt to hold on until the return fixture in London.
Asensio extended Real’s lead to 2-0 late into the second half, securing the leg-one victory. It seems unlikely that Chelsea will be able to overcome this deficit in the second leg, but they’ll be pushing for a miracle nonetheless.
Scores heading into leg 2
Bayern 0-3 Man City
Inter 2-0 Benfica
AC Milan 1-0 Napoli
Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea
Read more TGH soccer news here
Read more sports and e-sports news from TGH here
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
