Category: UEFA Champions League

Premier League almost won but contracts are ending and key players ageing, necessitating a summer of change

It’s the 94th minute at Estádio da Luz in October. Benfica are winning 4-0 and Atlético Madrid are in utter disarray. Zeki Amdouni runs the ball into an entirely unpatrolled Atlético area, gets a free shot from 14 yards and misses a glorious chance to make it 5-0. Nobody cares. Least of all Liverpool, even though this miss will in effect end up, five months later, knocking them out of the Champions League.

Of course, we’re in the realm of the absurd here, although when it comes to the new Champions League format this is a system with margins exactly, and absurdly, this fine. By virtue of this one goal not scored – and of course you could pick out many others – Benfica end up finishing 16th in the 36-team group phase rather than 15th: a position from which they, rather than Paris Saint-Germain, would probably have ended up facing Liverpool in the last 16.

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Barcelona qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals in the name of Carles Miñarro, as a journey they began together continued in his absence.

On Tuesday morning a funeral was held for the club doctor who had died suddenly at the team hotel three days earlier; the same evening, the players he had cared for and who had spent the previous night at the chapel of rest paid homage the only way they really could.

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Lamine Yamal and Raphinha put on an attacking masterclass in the first half to swat aside Benfica and make it to the quarter-finals

Barcelona get the ball rolling. The city so beautiful in the background. Ah, memories of the diving at the 1992 Olympics.

The teams are out. Barcelona are in their famous blaugrana, Benfica in third-choice white/silver/grey with neon yellow trim. A crackling atmosphere at the Olímpic Lluís Companys despite the place not yet totally full, as per Steve McManaman. We’ll be off once a poignant moment is taken to remember Carles Minarro Garcia.

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• Head coach ready for second-leg showdown at Anfield
• Luis Enrique says winners of last-16 tie will make final

Arne Slot believes Liverpool must produce their best performance of the season to finish off “a complete” Paris Saint-Germain team that gave him sleepless nights after the Champions League encounter last week.

Liverpool take a 1-0 lead into the last-16 second leg at Anfield but Slot rates the tie at “50-50” on the evidence of PSG’s display at Parc des Princes. “The result was ours, the performance was for them,” he said.

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• The ‘chosen one’ scored dramatic first-leg winner at PSG
• ‘I want to play, but need to respect manager’s decisions’

Harvey Elliott has said a starring role as Liverpool’s “chosen one” against Paris Saint-Germain compensated for the anger and frustration he has felt at his limited game-time under Arne Slot.

The Liverpool forward believes his match-winning goal on Wednesday in the Champions League last-16 first leg, scored 47 seconds after replacing Mohamed Salah, underlined the determination of every squad member to contribute this season plus the quality of Slot’s decision-making. But having been restricted to 507 minutes of football, and only 76 minutes in the Premier League, the 21-year-old admits Slot’s outstanding debut campaign has had its challenges.

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The last 16 started with a host of intriguing fixtures. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action

Arsenal

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PSG dominated, creating chance after chance, but came up against Alisson in inspired form, eventually succumbing to Harvey Elliott’s late smash-and-grab winner

2 min: Ruiz hassles Gravenberch down the PSG left but the Liverpool midfielder holds firm and buys a cheap free kick. PSG soon try again, this time down the right, Hakimi nearly getting the better of Diaz, but again the Liverpool player sticks to his guns and Hakimi runs the ball out for a goal kick.

1 min: An instant blast of jeering as Liverpool start with some midfield possession.

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Raphinha struck a second-half winner to give Barcelona a lion-hearted 1-0 victory at Benfica on Wednesday as they overcame a red card for Pau Cubarsí early in the game to steal an advantage in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Barcelona’s teenage defender Cubarsí was given a straight red card for a last-man foul on Vangelis Pavlidis in the 22nd minute, but the visitors hung on with goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny putting in a brilliant performance.

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Harry Kane scored twice for Bayern as Raphina’s goal grabbed a first-half lead for ten-man Barça.

Jeyland Mitchell caught Thuram’s heel – VAR calls over the German ref, and it’s awarded.

Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen teams

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A late own goal from Brandon Mechele and a Marco Asensio penalty give Villa the edge

Unai Emery: “We know their potential and we know we have to be strong, defensively, offensively, tactically. We have to try to stop their gameplan and skills. We have to try to win the match, not concede. This is our challenge.

“We try always to improve. It is a good experience we had here. They deserve to be here, we deserve it, too, but today will be a different match. Hopefully we can show our best performance collectively and individually.”

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• Atlético travel to Bernabéu for last-16 first leg
• ‘It’s a special match in terms of emotions and pressure’

As Real Madrid prepare to host Atlético Madrid in a city derby in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday, Carlo Ancelotti said he is looking forward to another battle against his rival Diego Simeone.

Heading into their 27th clash, with the two managers having faced each other more often than any other rival in their careers, they are tied at nine wins each along with eight draws.

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Aston Villa and Arsenal will fancy their chances of progress, while Liverpool will face a challenge to oust in-form PSG

Villa produced probably their worst performance of the season in losing the meeting of the sides in the group stage, Brugge winning 1-0 with a penalty awarded after Tyrone Mings, not realising a goal-kick had been taken, picked up the ball. Villa may be grateful for that: had they taken a point from that game they would have been facing Bayern in the last 16. That said, as domestic form has stagnated, the victory over Bayern, a repeat of the scoreline from the 1982 European Cup final, probably represents the high point of their season so far. Domestically this hasn’t been a great campaign for Brugge either. They lie eight points behind Racing Genk but for them too the Champions League has provided salvation. They sneaked into the playoffs with three wins but then were much the better side against Atalanta, winning home and away.

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A Bigger Cup needs a Bigger Draw. Last year Uefa set out the tournament brackets from the quarter-final onwards, showing Real Madrid which particular jails they might need to escape to win the competition for the 15th time. This year Uefa have gone one better by doing the draw for the rest of the tournament at the last-16 stage. It’s a punch up the bracket for Manchester City, who can now empathise with every failed Bullseye contestant. Look what they could have won: Atlético Madrid in the last 16, then Arsenal or PSV Eindhoven in the quarter-finals, then maybe Liverpool in the semis.

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The last 16 beckons, and there were plenty of storylines to digest. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action

Feyenoord

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• PSV beat Juventus 3-1 after extra time in playoff
• PSG and Borussia Dortmund stroll into last 16

Ryan Flamingo scored in extra time to give PSV Eindhoven a 3-1 home win on Wednesday in the second leg of their Champions League knockout phase playoff against Juventus, overturning a first-leg deficit and putting them into the last 16.

The tie was level at 3-3 on aggregate after 90 minutes and went into extra time before Flamingo poached a 98th-minute winner as Juventus became the third Italian side eliminated from the competition, after Milan and Atalanta on Tuesday.

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