On Tuesday, March 17, the Champions League saw four second-leg matches in the round of 16. The tournament's quarter-finalists were the current holders PSG, Real Madrid, Arsenal and Sporting, who had recovered from a 3-0 first-leg deficit.
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Champions League. Round of 16. Second leg
March 17 (Tuesday)
Manchester City (England) – Real Madrid (Spain) – 1:2 (Holland, 41 – Vinicius, 22, from penalty, 90+3). Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) was sent off in the 20th minute. First leg – 0:3.
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The already weak hopes of Manchester City fans for salvation after the fiasco in Madrid were ordered to live for a long time closer to the middle of the first half, when Josep Guardiola's team remained in the minority, and Brazilian Vinicius from the “mark” brought Real Madrid's advantage in the aggregate of two meetings to 4: 0. Norwegian Holland played one goal back, the “avengers” fought to the last, but no more.
By the way, Ukrainian national team goalkeeper Andriy Lunin replaced Belgian Thibaut Courtois, who “broke down”, at halftime and kept Real Madrid's goal intact, repelling several dangerous shots from Manchester City players.
Chelsea (England) – PSG (France) – 0:3 (Kvaratskhelia, 6, Barcolla, 14, Mayulu, 62). First match – 2:5.
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Ilya Zabarny's team, who played the match at Stamford Bridge as a substitute, “finished off” Chelsea in their debut, when Georgian Kvaratskhelia and Frenchman Barkolya brought PSG's advantage over the two matches to five goals. It was time for the Londoners to throw up the white flag, which they did.
Arsenal (England) – Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) – 2:0 (Eze, 36, Rice, 63). First match – 1:1.
Sporting (Portugal) – Bode-Glimt (Norway) – 5:0 in extra time (Inacio, 34, Gonçalves, 61, Suarez, 78, Araujo, 92, Nel, 120+1). First match – 0:3.
The fairytale of the boys from the town of Bude, beyond the Arctic Circle, ended at Lisbon's José Alvalade Arena. Having beaten monsters like Atletico, Manchester City and Inter (twice!), Bude-Glimt were unable to hold on to a three-goal lead in the Champions League against Sporting, who squeezed the upstart in overtime. However, Kjetil Knutsen's team, which reached the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, have in any case made football Europe fall in love with them.
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And of course, applause for the Sporting players, who, after a 62-year hiatus, made another resounding comeback in European competitions (in 1964, the green-and-whites defeated Manchester United 5:0 in the quarterfinals of the Cup Winners' Cup after losing the first meeting 1:4) and for the first time since 1983, made it to the quarterfinals of Europe's main club tournament.
On Wednesday, March 18, the following teams will compete for places in the quarterfinals of the tournament: Bayern Munich – Atalanta (first leg – 6:1), Tottenham – Atletico Madrid (2:5), Barcelona – Newcastle United (1:1), Liverpool – Galatasaray (0:1).
Previously, “FACTS” reported that the Champions League playoff grid has been announced.
Photo of A Bola