They did it! Barcelona overcame a 4-0 first leg defeat with an amazing 6-1 victory against Unai Emery’s Paris Saint Germain in the Nou Camp on Wednesday night! Nobody had ever come back from that scoreline in European competitions, but with only three minutes gone Luis Suárez headed the opener after Rafinha’s cross was deflected up in to the area. With five minutes to go to the break Kurzawa could only turn the ball in to his own net after Iniesta back-heeled the ball across goal, and five minutes in to the second half Messi made it three from the penalty spot after Neymar was brought down by Meunier. Cavani hit the post at the other end though, and soon afterwards he fired home an important away goal after Lucas Moura headed the ball in to his path. Only a good save by Ter Stegen prevented Cavani from scoring again, and German referee Deniz Aytekin turned down a penalty appeal when Mascherano brought down Di María in the area. With the clock running down, and Barça still needing three, it appeared to be all over, but with two minutes of normal time remaining Neymar curled in a free kick to give his team renewed hope. Three minutes later Aytekin gave the locals another hotly-disputed penalty when Luis Suárez fell under a challenge from Marquinhos, Neymar firing home the resulting spot-kick, and in the fifth and final minute of time added on Sergi Roberto poked in Neymar’s centre to send the crowd wild. Some said it was the greatest come-back ever, and Barcelona are through to the last eight for a record tenth time in a row. (08.03.17)
Defending champions Real Madrid are through to the quarter finals for the seventh year in a row after a 1-3 victory at Napoli on Tuesday night. A strike by Mertens midway through the first half took the Italian side to within a goal of turning things around though, and although Ronaldo hit the post at the other end, Mertens did the same soon afterwards. However two headed goals by Sergio Ramos from Kroos corners early on in the second half (the second attributed to a Mertens own goal), put the game beyond the reach of the locals, and Morata wrapped things up in injury time after Reina could only block a shot from Ronaldo. (07.03.17)