Champions League Takeaways: Manchester City advance to final four for third straight year

And then there have been 4. 

The quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League wrapped up this week as 4 groups will proceed on of their quest to clinch a spot within the ultimate in Istanbul on June 10. 

An all-Serie A contest awaits within the subsequent spherical as AC Milan will conflict with bitter metropolis rivals Inter Milan, Real Madrid stays on track to repeat as champions, and Manchester City simply brushed apart Bayern Munich. 

Here’s what stood out from the second leg of the quarter-finals:  

Manchester City finishes off Bayern Munich 

Real Madrid could be the defending Champions League holders, however Manchester City appears to be like just like the workforce to beat as we get right down to the business finish of this yr’s match. The Blues walloped Bavarian giants Bayern Munich 3-0 at house final week, after which marched into Germany on Wednesday and earned a 1-1 draw to punch their ticket for the ultimate 4. 

Norwegian ahead Erling Haaland ballooned his penalty shot try over the bar within the first half, however then made up for it when he opened the scoring within the 57th minute through a superbly executed counterattack.  

Manchester City is just the third English workforce to qualify for the semifinals in three consecutive years, equalling the mark set by Chelsea and Manchester United once they each did it between 2006-07 to 2008-09. 

A date with Real Madrid within the subsequent spherical looms, and regardless that the Spaniards are the defending champions, it’s tough to look previous Manchester City because the favourites. Pep Guardiola has an extremely balanced and deep squad that may overwhelm groups with their assault one week (like they did towards Bayern within the first leg) and professionally handle the sport and grind it out the following week (like they did on Wednesday in Germany). 

Haaland now has 48 objectives in all competitions this season, together with a tournament-leading 12 within the Champions League. But his greatest check lies forward. Real Madrid is not any comfortable contact and shall be coming off three clear sheets on this yr’s Champions League once they host Man City within the first leg subsequent month. 

Inter Milan advances after drawing Benfica 

After greater than a decade since lifting the Champions League trophy for a 3rd time, Inter Milan is again within the semifinals of the competitors, having comfortably dispatched Benfica over two legs. The Nerazzurri earned a 2-0 win in Lisbon final week which gave them a serious benefit coming house to San Siro for Wednesday’s return match.  

Nicolò Barella, Lautaro Martinez and Joaquin Correa all scored beautiful objectives to present the Italians a 3-1 lead after 78 minutes to place the sequence past the Portuguese’s attain. Late objectives by António Silva and Petar Musa noticed Benfica earn a 3-3 draw on the night time however lose 5-3 on combination. 

It was an enormous night time for Martinez, a member of Argentina’s World Cup-winning facet from Qatar. Having failed to attain in his earlier 9 Champions League matches, he lastly got here good towards Benfica within the sixty fifth minute when he fired into the roof of the web from in shut after a reasonably give-and-go between teammates Federico Demarco and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. 

Pressure had been mounting on Martinez in current weeks, particularly as Inter Milan had misplaced its type in Serie A in current weeks, struggling losses to modest provincial sides Monza and Spezia.  

But the Argentine ace has a knack for arising massive when his workforce wants him probably the most, and by no means appeared to lose his confidence as his aim drought dragged on. 

“There are moments in football, sometimes the ball goes in and sometimes it doesn’t,” Martinez informed Amazon Prime Video Italia after the match.

Leão, Maignan excellent in AC Milan’s win 

AC Milan is thru to the semifinals of the Champions League for the primary time since 2007 after incomes a 1-1 draw away to Napoli on Tuesday, a outcome that was ok for the Rossoneri, following final week’s 1-0 win at San Siro within the opening leg. 

Stadio Diego Armando Maradona has grow to be a fortress for Napoli, and visiting groups haven’t had the best of instances there. But Milan confirmed no indicators of being intimidated, because it managed the sport with a defensive show that may greatest be described as a masterclass, whereas its probing assault stored Napoli on its toes all night time.

Olivier Giroud squandered two superb scoring possibilities within the first half, together with a failed penalty try. The Frenchman lastly got here good simply earlier than halftime when he swept house a shot from eight yards out. Giroud will get the credit score, but it surely was AC Milan’s Rafael Leão who did all of the grunt work.  

The younger Portuguese pounced on a giveaway, after which went on a scintillating run harking back to Thierry Henry throughout his prime as he breezed previous plenty of Napoli defenders earlier than pulling goalkeeper Alex Meret out of place as soon as he was contained in the penalty space. All Giroud needed to do was take Leão’s feed from throughout the field and slot it house. 

At the opposite finish of the sphere, Milan’s Mike Maignan confirmed why he is without doubt one of the most under-rated goalkeepers on this planet by making 4 saves, together with an important cease on a penalty try by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia within the 82nd minute. Napoli’s Victor Osimhen equalized three minutes into stoppage time with a bullet header. But by that point, it was too late. 

“I saw an enormous sacrifice from my players, we trusted each other and our way of playing football to overcome a great Napoli side that caused us problems over both legs. We won it with heart, energy and belief,” AC Milan supervisor Stefano Pioli informed Italian broadcaster Mediaset after the sport. 

Another semifinal look for Real Madrid 
Sitting on a two-goal benefit from final week’s opening leg, Real Madrid completed off Chelsea with one other 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday. 

Los blancos put the struggling London-based membership out of its distress with knowledgeable efficiency to advance to the ultimate 4 of the Champions League for the sixteenth time, greater than another workforce within the competitors’s historical past, and for the eleventh time in 13 seasons. Young Brazilian ahead Rodrygo bagged a brace for the Spanish outfit, and now has 13 objectives in all competitions this season. 

Chelsea put up a valiant struggle for the higher a part of an hour and completed the sport with 19 pictures. But the Blues lacked a innovative in shedding for the fourth time in a row since former star midfielder Frank Lampard returned as interim supervisor earlier this month. 

An unheralded hero on the night time for Real was goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who made an vital save simply earlier than halftime to thwart his outdated membership. Reece James was Chelsea’s most harmful participant on Tuesday, together with his greatest second coming when he delivered a ball throughout the penalty space for teammate Marc Cucurella. The Spaniard regarded poised to present Chelsea the lead going into the break, however Courtois learn the play brilliantly and smothered the ball to snuff out the hazard. 

“The big Courtois save was very important. We didn’t want them to go ahead,” Real supervisor Carlo Ancelotti informed reporters.  

“That may have been worrying. As the second half developed, we had been stronger, we created area to open up high quality transitions. By the top, we had produced a really full efficiency. We hit a great stage.” 

John Molinaro is without doubt one of the main soccer journalists in Canada, having coated the sport for over 20 years for a number of media shops, together with Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is at present the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, an internet site devoted to in-depth protection of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic could be discovered right here.