Despite Chelsea’s valiant efforts to retain their Champions League title and overcome their 3-1 first-leg deficit against Real Madrid, the Blues failed to advance to the semi-finals.
However, the possibility of an all-English final in Paris remains, after both Liverpool and Manchester City advanced from their quarter-finals against Benfica and Atletico Madrid respectively.
The two are on opposite sides of the draw, with Liverpool facing Bayern conqueror Villarreal and City facing Atletico’s city rival Real Madrid.
Judging from the most recent Premier League meeting between the sides, a Liverpool-City final would be a tantalizing prospect.
but of Football
Are here iSummaries of the Champions League quarter-final matches:
Real Madrid-Chelsea
Add: 5-4
It seemed that Thomas Tuchel’s men were going to complete the comeback with a 3-0 lead in the second leg, but a late volley from Rodrygo, who hit a perfect trivela cross from Luka Modric, took the match to extra time.
Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick in the first leg and hounded Chelsea again on Tuesday night when he scored his third header of the tie, headed into the bottom left corner that beat Edouard Mendy on the wrong foot.
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City
Add: Manchester City 1-0 Atletico Madrid
A 1-0 win at the Etihad thanks to a Kevin De Bruyne goal was enough to see Manchester City through against Atletico Madrid.
Despite the lack of goals, the second leg was not without incident with eight yellow cards and one red card handed out by the referee. Diego Simeone was also booked for entering the pitch late.
Semifinal: Man City vs Real Madrid
Champions League semi-final schedule
first legs
- Tuesday April 26, Manchester City vs Real Madrid
- Wednesday April 27, Liverpool vs Villarreal
Second legs:
- Tuesday May 3, Villarreal vs Liverpool
- Wednesday May 4, Real Madrid vs Manchester City
Liverpool vs Benfica
Add: Liverpool 6-4 Benfica
A much-changed Liverpool got the job done at Anfield, with Roberto Firmino scoring twice during an entertaining 3-3 draw that also featured a goal from the coveted Darwin Núñez.
Jurgen Klopp took a risk with his team’s selection by benching Virgil van Dijk, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Fabinho, Thiago Alcantara, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, but it paid off in the end.
Bayern Munich vs Villarreal
Add: 1-2
The Yellow Submarines once again converted their only shot on goal to put manager Unai Emery through to his first Champions League semi-final.
Robert Lewandowski took the lead, sliding his shot off the post as the German team capitalized on a misplaced pass from Dani Parejo, but Bayern fell victim to Villarreal’s lethal counter-attacking ability when Samuel Chukwueze deflected a drilled cross past Manuel. Neuer.
Semifinal: Liverpool-Villarreal
–
