News Archive

Champions League, quarter finals, second leg

Barcelona 0 - Juventus 0

Barcelona will not be joining their two Spanish colleagues in Friday’s semi-final draw after their game against Juventus on Wednesday ended 0-0. A packed Nou Camp were hoping for another epic turnaround after the 3-0 defeat a week ago, but this time the visiting defence were too good for them, and it will be the Italian champions who go through. Luis Enrique’s side needed to score early on, and Rakitic, Messi and Neymar all failed to convert chances early on. Messi brought a good save out of Buffon later on in the first half, but Higuaín and Cuadrado tested Ter Stegen either side of half time, and an effort from Pjanic looped off a defender and on to the bar. Messi, Sergi Roberto and Mascherano all tried their luck after that, but Allegri threw on an extra defender to protect the result, and for the first time in 21 Champions League games Barça were unable to score in the Nou Camp. To their credit though the home fans stayed on after the final whistle to applaud the efforts of their side. With the league-deciding “clásico” coming up in Madrid on Sunday, they knew that the players needed their support to help pick themselves up for that game. (19.04.17)

Real Madrid 4 - Bayern Munich 2 (after extra time)

Defending champions Real Madrid have qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League for the seventh year in a row after they won through against Bayern Munich! A 1-2 victory in Germany last week seemed to have put them well on track, and Benzema, Ramos, Kroos and Ronaldo all had chances to put them further in front before the break. After the restart though Marcelo had to head off the line from Robben, and soon afterwards the visitors were awarded a penalty for a foul by Casemiro on the ex Madrid midfielder which Lewandowski converted. With a quarter of an hour to go Ronaldo headed the equalizer from a Casemiro centre, but just two minutes later Sergio Ramos deflected the ball in to his own net after Nacho tried to clear from Lewandowski to take the tie in to extra time. Two minutes before that though Bayern were left with ten men when Vidal picked up a hotly disputed second booking, and either side of the extra time rest period Ronaldo scored twice to complete yet another hat-trick, the first from a Ramos centre, and the second following a good run by Marcelo. Claims by the visitors that both goals were scored from offside positions were turned down by the referee, and a few minutes later substitute Marco Asensio ran through from midfield to wrap things up. (18.04.17)

Leicester City 1 - Atlético Madrid 1

For the third year in four there will be two teams from Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League after Atlético Madrid drew 1-1 at Leicester City to go through 2-1 on aggregate. Simeone put out a defensive line up to protect the one goal advantage from the first leg, with Giménez playing an anchor role in midfield and Griezmann alone up front. Okazaki put an early chance over the bar, but midway through the first half Saúl Ñíguez got on the end of a Filipe Luis centre to steer an angled header past Schmeichel. That meant that the Premier League side had to score three, and local coach Craig Shakespeare decided to make two changes at the break. Chilwell in particular livened things up, and with just over an hour gone a shot from the England under 21 international was deflected across to Vardy, who turned the ball wide of Oblak. Ulloa, Vardy, Ndidi and Mahrez all went close after that, but Atleti held on make sure of their place in Europe’s top four once again. (18.04.17)