The Champions League quarter-finals have come and gone, and as we recover and regroup from witnessing Europe’s elite battling it out, we can see the final stages of the prestigious tournament coming together. With the last 4 matchups giving us some tasty ties which we will delve into more shortly, we cannot wait for the semi-finals after some of the brilliance and pure footballing drama we have had over the past few weeks.

This post continues our Champions League reviews, and will be continuing throughout the tournament and following every stage of the competition. In the piece, we will pick out the key headlines and talking points of the gameweek/round of fixtures, so if you spot something or want us to discuss a specific game/team/player/moment, let us know over on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog).

Enjoy.

You Hate To See It…

The first talking point of the quarter-finals has to be in the matchup between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, as despite being the lowest scoring matchup of the 4, it gave us the most drama in the closing stages of the second leg in particular, in which Simeone-ball reached a new level.

The first leg match was a tense affair in which City managed to eventually wear down their opponents resolute defending in the 70th minute thanks to a strike from Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne which was ultimately the defining moment across both legs. In the fixture, Atletico were traditionally willing to soak up most of the pressure put on by Peps men and hope they could take a result back to their place for the second leg. This led to a fairly drab first 90 minutes as despite City’s goal advantage, the stats demonstrate the contrasting mentalities, with City having 70% possession, taking 15 shots and making 627 accurate passes to Atletico’s 30%, 0 shots and 213 passes.

What we did see however in the first-leg, was the beginning of niggling battles between some of Simeone’s finest wind-up merchants and some of City’s more livewire stars. The 1-0 win for City will probably have pleased both managers ultimately, however spectators were left hoping the return leg would liven things up a little and provide a bit more entertainment, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Before we address the second-leg, first I must say to commentators everywhere, spectators love seeing the scenes from the end of the game, and we couldn’t disagree more with the “we don’t like to see these scenes” comments as the game flares up and tempers rise.

With that in mind then, let’s discuss the second-leg matchup in which the score line was almost second in the pecking order, as the 0-0 result saw City through fairly comfortably despite only the 1 goal advantage. De Bruyne’s strike has the Manchester side down now as slight favourites to go all the way, as their semi-final is definitely a tough opponent however they will have confidence in their ability. Although 0-0 on the night, both sides stepped it up a bit more on an attacking front, with Atletico improving their previous stats to 40% possession, 14 shots and 301 accurate passes compared to City’s 60%, 10 shots and 526 passes. This much more balanced statistics still demonstrate City’s dominant impact upon preceding’s, however it’s what many expected of Diego Simeone, to get his side to remain defensively sound, play on the counter attack with their exciting flair players in Felix and Griezmann and really use every trick in the book to irritate and infuriate City’s biggest threats.

As mentioned, it’s not the score that really grabbed headlines however, as it’s the final 10 minutes that was the centre of conversation, as the 91st minute saw Felipe see red for a harsh challenge on Foden, who had been targeted all night. Felipe arguably should have gone earlier in the game, but he didn’t leave without a fight in the final moments, ranting to the officials as he departed and drawing both sides to a scuffle in which Savic and Grealish (sub) met once again to renew their rivalry. These scenes continued past the final whistle, as Simeone, who had spent all game riling his players and supporters to boiling point, entered the field at one point to ‘calm’ things down. As the final whistle blew and players left for the changing rooms, the bickering continued, with Grealish and Savic allegedly coming to blows and several scuffles being separated by the police force who were on hand. All of this drama took away from the solid performances from City, who conducted themselves as well as could be expected in these conditions, and was soundtracked by naïve commentary from the pundits and commentators who repeated how we don’t want to witness these scenes, only for social media and everyone watching to state the contrary.

That Man Again…

City will be back in Madrid in a few weeks time, as they will be facing off against a strong and dangerous looking Real Madrid side, led by arguably the most in-form striker in world football, in Karim Benzema. Despite being 34, and supported by 36 year old Luka Modric, the pair were the best performers on the field as their experience surrounded by young exciting talents has once again taken them far in the Champions League.

They dominated the first leg of their matchup with Chelsea, with Benzema bagging a hattrick as they left Stamford Bridge 3-1 victors. The goal from Havertz late in the first-half gave Chelsea a glimmer of hope to go to Madrid with, however the performance from Benzema and co. was simply sublime and one of the great Champions League performances that Madrid fans have come so accustomed with over the decades of dominance in the tournament.

Despite Chelsea edging many of the statistics on the night, with 57% possession, taking 20 shots to Real Madrid’s 8 and 162 more passes completed than their Spanish visitors, they couldn’t make any of this count as they were opened up by Madrid whipping in balls for Benzema to get on the end of. As mentioned previously, getting the goal at least provided them with some optimism of recovering the result, but the Bernabéu is no easy place to go and dominate.

Chelsea gave the second leg a brilliant effort, as they went 3-0 up and looked like they had done the unthinkable as Werner made it 3 late in the game. This would have made them only the second team in 44 attempts in the Champions League era to overturn a two-goal home-leg deficit in the return match, however it wasn’t to be as Rodrygo got a goal to send the game into extra-time thanks to one of the greatest assist passes you will ever witness from Modric. I honestly cannot overstate how satisfying that pass was to witness and with social media offering instant replays, the gifs of it from every angle have been on loop for the days since.

In extra-time, it was that man Benzema who made the difference with his goal once again from a crossed ball into the box which he placed past Mendy to bring his total to 4 across the two-legs. Tuchel wasn’t happy as the referee had disallowed a goal for Alonso in the 62nd minute which could have seen Chelsea have a 4-0 lead and well out of sight before the Madrid comeback. It was a tight handball call but ultimately one that is expected with the VAR influence over proceedings. After the game he made comments about the referee because of this and also his relationship or at least response to Ancelotti following the full-time whistle.

City Vs Real Madrid is the semi-final tie which is already drawing the most hype, and both sides could feel they are the dominant side going into it, and no real underdog in the fight which as neutrals we all hope provide the footballing brilliance of Madrid-Chelsea, and perhaps some of the drama of Atletico-City.

A ‘Very’ Good Evening…

Villarreal fans are still in dreamland, as their first leg victory over giants of Europe Bayern Munich would have been enough for this side to enter the history books, surprising many by taking their Europa League win last season forward to this years Champions League and making it all the way through to the latter stages, however the second leg cements their place in Spanish history and gave us the surprise of the tournament as they nabbed a late equaliser in the second leg which gave them a 2-1 victory on aggregate and continue this memorable run in the tournament.

The first leg result showed naivety on the part of Bayern as they were met with a much tougher opponent than they had expected. Although the German visitors dominated the stats with 62% possession, 22 shots, 481 completed passes, they couldn’t make any of it count, as only 4 of their 22 shots were on target, and even the fire power of Lewandowski, Gnabry and Coman couldn’t get through the Villarreal unit. The early goal for the Spanish side inside the first 10 minutes was perfect for the underdog who could then rest on this slim advantage and didn’t need to continue pressing for another at this stage.

In the second leg however, Bayern certainly prepared better for their opponents, and in the 52nd minute Lewandowski got the leveller for the German champions, and it again seemed only a matter of time until they made the statistical dominance count as they dominated possession, shots and passes massively compared to their defensively minded opponents. Unai Emery’s side doesn’t know when to quit however, and in the 88th minute Chukwueze did the unthinkable as he netted the equaliser on the night and gave Villarreal a 2-1 aggregate victory which sees them through into the semi-final where their European adventure will continue once again.

I think at times it seems harsh to continue to refer to the Europa League winners and now Champions League semi-finalists as underdogs or surprise victors, but even their most ambitious supporters would be shocked by the lengths Emery has taken this crop of players to. The likes of Lo Celso, Coquelin, Capoue who never really shone in England are working wonders in European competition and getting their rewards for their efforts.

4 Trophies Jurgen, That’s Insane…

It couldn’t happen could it? Please say no as I’m not sure I could deal with the already at times insufferable attitudes of Liverpool fans, so with a quadruple to fall back upon, they’ll truly feel unstoppable. Despite my reluctance to see their supporters happy, the team itself deserve everything coming their way, as they are brushing aside opponents on all fronts and almost casually challenging for every competition. With the FA Cup semi-final on the horizon, the Carabao Cup in the bag and only hovering a point behind City in the Premier League, they genuinely feel like favourites in all competitions, and following the strong displays over Benfica in the quarter-finals to set up a semi-final with Villarreal, they’ll feel as confident as ever of going all the way in the Champions League.

The first-leg 3-1 victory against Benfica pretty much killed the tie in the first 90 minutes, or at least for many neutrals it had. With Konate and Mane giving the travelling side a comfortable advantage in the first-half, the rising star Nunez did get a goal back early in the second-half, however the home side couldn’t build on this and instead when Luis Diaz added his sides 3rd, things were done and dusted. The Benfica front man has certainly shown why he’s a target for many of Europe’s elite sides, however statistically his side were bettered, with Liverpool dominating possession (66%), xG (3.86), shots (17) and completed passes (644). In every area they performed once again, and as a result, could almost ease off in the second-leg, almost.

The second-leg’s viewership was likely no more than the die hard fans and neutrals watching on two devices, as they competed with Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, however those who tuned in were rewarded with a 6 goal dramatic matchup, as despite being out of the tie for most of both legs, the Portuguese side kept battling and wanted to go down with a fight as they left Liverpool with a 3-3 result which they will be incredibly proud of and regretting letting the first leg get away from them so much.

Liverpool made 7 changes to their starting XI that began the first-leg, and once again things got off to a great start, as they led 1-0 inside the opening half an hour, until they were pegged back from Ramos for the opposition. They didn’t let Benfica get any foothold however, and Firmino got a rare brace on home soil as he gave his side a 3-1 lead to make it 6-2 on aggregate and well and truly settled. Benfica fought back to 3-3 in the closing stages with goals from Yaremchuk and Nunez again, however watching Nunez get the ball out of the back of the net at 3-3 and still needing 2 goals in the last 8 minutes felt futile as a spectator but showed desire and a great attitude which again will endear him to any potential suitors who are eyeing up the striker for a summer move. Statistically, Liverpool were almost identical in their possession, shots and passes which despite the wholesale changes showed a strength in depth that will please Klopp in the final run in.

With their matchup against Villarreal set up nicely for the English side, they are visibly growing in confidence of winning all 4 potential trophies, and no matter what the players or manager says in interviews, they are well-aware of the position they have put themselves in, and will feel hugely confident of pulling off the remarkable this season.

Elsewhere…

As the Champions League takes the headlines on Tuesday/Wednesday, the Thursday night European offerings have been arguably as entertaining, with some big results coming in the last 16 of both the Europa League and the debut season of the Europa Conference League.

In the Europa League we saw West Ham United conquer a struggling Lyon side as the Hammers left the Parc Olympique Lyonnais 3-0 victors on the night to take a 4-1 aggregate win overall. In a game which West Ham were confident of getting a result, they dominated Peter Bosz’s side who despite managing an xG of 1.75 to West Ham’s 1.27 couldn’t find the target, as only 3 of the 17 shots from the French side were on target. David Moyes meanwhile had his side at their best, with Dawson, Rice and Bowen all finding the net to make the Eurostar trip for their faithful supporters feel a bit more comfortable. Many of these travelling fans would have been looking to book flights and hotels for their matchup with Barcelona, however in Spain, things weren’t quite so straight forward.

Eintracht Frankfurt, the team currently 10th in the Bundesliga, took their army of reportedly 30,000 to the Camp Nou to witness a stunning victory as the German side left Spain victorious with their 3-2 win (4-3 aggregate) and eliminated the heavy favourites for the Europa League. Leading 3-0 until past the 90 minute mark in which Barcelona were given a glimmer of hope through a Depay penalty and Busquets strike, but it wasn’t enough as a brace from Kostic and strike from Borre provides an unlikely semi-final meeting of West Ham and Eintracht Frankfurt who both will think they have a chance.

In the other matchups, Rangers were boosted by their home support, along with 2 red cards for opponents Braga, as they turned the 1-0 defeat from the first leg into a 3-1 victory in extra time (3-2 aggregate). Putting the ball in the back of the net twice inside the first 5 minutes with one ruled out, the Scottish side put in the shift of their lives to reach the Europa League semi-final where they will be faced with the favourites to take the silverware, RB Leipzig, who beat Italian side Atalanta 2-0 to secure their place in the last 4.

In the Europa Conference League, we have some tasty semi-final matches to look forward to, as Leicester City made it to their first ever European semi-final after beating PSV. They will meet Jose Mourinho’s Roma who finally ended their season long battle with Bodø/Glimt by winning 4-0 and putting their first leg defeat aside. In the other side of the draw, Feyenoord made it through in their tie with Slavia Prague, and they will meet up against Marseille who had anther Payet goal to cement their victory against PAOK.

With the potential for English sides to be picking up all 3 European trophies this season, each club remaining in their respective competition will feel confident in going all the way, as only 3 games stand in their way of European glory and for many sides, securing their place in the clubs’ history books.