Bayern hit seven while Champions stutter
The first four quarter-finalists in the Champions League were confirmed this week as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Porto and Paris St. Germain. Although the first three were clear favorites, PSG came through at the expense of Chelsea while Champions Real Madrid were booed off the pitch after concluding their last-16 tie with Schalke 04 at the Bernabeu.
Bayern had been forced to settle for a 0-0 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg after being reduced to ten men. The boot was firmly on the other foot at Allianz Stadium when Oleksandr Kucher was dismissed after conceding a penalty in the fourth minute. It was one-way traffic thereafter with Thomas Muller helping himself to a double with goals from Badstuber, Boateng, Ribery, Lewandowski and Gotze turning the match into a rout.
It was a very different story for Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid who lost 4-3 at home to Schalke 04 but scraped through 5-4 on aggregate. Roberto di Matteo had promised a fighting performance from his side despite a 2-0 first leg deficit and his players did not let him down.
Christian Fuchs put the visitors head before Cristiano Ronaldo continued his fine scoring record in the competition to level at 1-1. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar put the visitors back in front before Ronaldo leveled again to send the sides in at 2-2 at the interval. When Karim Benzema put the holders ahead after the break it should have been all over but Schalke came storming back.
Leroy Sane made it 3-3 before Huntelaar scored his second to leave Real hanging on by a thread in the closing minutes. Schalke could not quite force a winner but they did inflict Real’s first home defeat in the competition since 2011.
Porto began their second leg tie with Basel at 1-1 but completely dominated their Swiss opponents to run out comfortable 4-0 winners, 5-1 on aggregate. Goals by Brahimi, Herrera, Casemiro and Aboubakar underlined their supremacy on the night.
Real Madrid were fortunate to escape the embarrassment of crashing out of the competition but there was no such reprieve for Chelsea after a tetchy encounter at Stamford Bridge against PSG. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off in the first half but Chelsea could not make their one man advantage count and were eventually eliminated on the away goals rule after extra-time. Goals by Cahill and Hazard were cancelled out by Brazilian center-backs David Luiz and Thiago Silva to send the French side through.
