QUARTER FINALS – UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (FIRST LEG)
The first night of the first-leg went to the home teams.
Manchester City narrowly escaped with a 2-1 win against Dortmund, while Real Madrid made their chance count with a 3-1 win against Liverpool.
The second night was for the away teams. Paris St. Germain left Munich with a 3-2 win, while Chelsea left Seville with a 2-0 win against Porto.
MANCHESTER CITY 2-1 DORTMUND
Manchester City – Kevin De Bruyne 19’ Phil Foden 90’
Dortmund – Marco Reus 84’
Phil Foden won it for Manchester City with a goal in the 90th-minute but Dortmund got the away goal that could make things tricky for Manchester City in the next leg.
Dortmund played well enough to deserve a draw (or more) from this game. Manchester City remain favorites but the performance only tells us that Dortmund are far from the exit. There might be hope.
REAL MADRID 3-1 LIVERPOOL
Real Madrid – Vinicius Jr 27’ 65’ Marco Asensio 36’
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah 51’
Vinicius Jr. scored 2 of the three goals as Real Madrid took the 3-1 win in the opening leg against Liverpool. Can Liverpool turn it around at Anfield?
Mohamed Salah scored a goal in the early parts of the second half to get Liverpool half way to a draw, but Vinicius Jr. came back with another to restore the 2-goal lead for Real Madrid. Liverpool will need two goals at Anfield in the second leg. History tells us that this is a possibility for Liverpool, but their home form in recent weeks makes it questionable; and the experience of Real Madrid in the competition makes them more of the favorite to advance to the semifinals.
BAYERN MUNICH 2-3 PARIS ST. GERMAIN
Bayern Munich – Eric Choupo-Motin 37’ Thomas Muller 60’
Paris St. Germain – Kylian Mbappe 3’ 68’ Marquinhos 28’
Bayern Munich’s dependency on Robert Lewandowski was put on display, Despite 5x the goalscoring opportunities they ended up with fewer goals and with a defeat.
A clinical Kulain Mbappe took the chances created for him.
It took 3 minutes for Paris St. Gemain to get the away goal, and less than half an hour to double their lead. Bayern Munich almost pulled off with a draw by coming back to level the score. A win looked likely for Bayern at 2-2, so they kept the highline in attack and got punished again against the run of play.
PORTO 0-2 CHELSEA
Chelsea – Mason Mount 32’ Ben Chilwell 85’
Porto came into the game with the underdog tag; that tag has now been doubled for the return leg. Porto will need to go to London and overturn a 2-0 score at Stamford Bridge.
