Good Evening Everyone,
After some surprising results on last week’s matches the four teams have already booked their place for the last 8 of the competition and this week the reaming 8 teams will play second–leg match to book their place for the quarter-final. After what we witnessed from last week’s Champions League matches, we can expect more of the same to happen this week also. Let's have a quick look at one of the most the dramatic Champions week
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The last 3 season’s Champions League winner Real Madrid and the French champion PSG bottled their first-leg away goals lead and eliminated from the round of 16 after a home defeat on their respective second-leg matches. On Tuesday night match at Santiago Bernabéu, Ajax produced one of the best Champions League comeback win over Real Madrid and eliminated the last 3 season’s Champions League winner from the RO16 of the competition. Ajax who were 1 goal down at the start of the game scored twice inside the first-half and leveled the match on aggregate by 3-3. Hakim Ziyech (7’)and David Neres (18’) both scored on the quick counter with great build-up moves from Ajax. Madrid defender just couldn’t deal with Ajax pace and conceded the third in 62 minutes, the Ajax this season’s star forward player Dusan Tadic scored the powerful curling shot from just inside of the post to Madrid’s top corner. Real pulled one goal back from Ascensio's goal on the 70th minute but the Lasse Schone scored another one for Ajax in the 72nd minute to restore the 3 goals lead. Real Madrid lost against Ajax on aggregate by 3-5 and eliminated first time in the 4 years from the competition.
On the same day, Tottenham also got the away win on their travel to Germany, they beat current Bundesliga second-place holder Borussia Dortmund by 1-0 and qualify for the quarterfinal. Tottenham who has the 3 goal advantage on first-leg won over Dortmund on aggregate by 4- 0. Despite putting 19 shots on Tottenham’s post, Dortmund couldn’t find the Tottenham net once at home and Tottenham who kept only one shot on target on Dortmund post, finds the net and won the match by 1-0. For Tottenham, their star striker Harry Kane scored the goal on 48th minute.
Just one day later, we witnessed two great comebacks which were decided by two late penalty decision from the referee. Manchester United who travel France with the reserve squad carrying first-leg two-goal defeat, registered one of the greatest Champions League away win at Parc des Princes and stunned the PSG’s home supporter. Manchester United became the first team ever in Champions League history to overturn the result from 2 goals down at home and win the match on aggregate with the win at away stadium. In a very dramatic match, Romelu Lukaku handed the much needed early lead for United at Parc des Princes. He took advantage of PSG’s defender Kehrer back pass and beat PSG’keeper Buffon and scored an empty net from a very tight angle. Just after 10 minutes of his goal, Juan Bernat level the match with an easy tap-in on Mbappe’s pass. On the 30th minute, Gianluigi Buffon fumbled the Marcus Rashford’s powerful shot, which Lukaku converts on the rebound and restore the one-goal lead for Manchester United. In the 90th minute of the match, when it looked United is now going to eliminate from the competition on aggregate, United was handed the penalty by VAR. Marcus Rashford took the most pressure penalty of his career and scored from a powerful shot which certainly booked United’s place on quarter-final in terms of better away goals. Despite having a 3-3 on aggregate, PSG once again bottled their first-leg lead and eliminated from the competition.
On the same day, FC Porto who were one goal down from their first-leg travel to Rome also overturn the result and went into the quarter-final winning over AS Roma on aggregate by 4-3. In a very exciting match, Porto took the lead from Francisco Soares goal on 26th minute. Roma levels the match on 37th minute from the Penalty spot, Daniele De Ross scored from the penalty spot and once again level the match. Porto continued their attacking play in the second half and restore the 1 goal lead within the 7th minute of the second half and leveled the tie on aggregate to 3-3. The scoreline remained the same after 90 minutes and match-went to extra time. Just like PSG vs Manchester United match, this match also decided on late with the late penalty. Alex Telles scored from a penalty and sent FC Porto to last 8 of the competition on aggregate.
It was one of the most entertaining weeks of Champions League, It was filled with late dramas, Penalty, comeback. Still, there are 4 spots left for the quarter-final, and only Juventus is down by more than 1 goals before the second-leg match. Just like last week's matches, we can expect similar kind of drama, comeback and home disappointment in this week's matches too.
Which team do you think will produce a more surprising result in this week's matches? write on the comment box.
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