CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QF & SF ROUND-UP
By Alex Wright
Last month, the Champions League saw some master-classes from the titans of European football. The quarter finals kicked off early in the month, with Manchester United to face reigning champions Bayern Munich, Barcelona were matched up against Atletico Madrid in an all-Spanish match up, Real Madrid locked horns with Borussia Dortmund, and French giants PSG were set to play Chelsea.
Barcelona was one of the first to start the round, their first clash against title rivals Atletico was arguably anti-climactic. The teams failed to break the deadlock until the 56th minute when substitute Diego ran on to a pass, and after managing to expertly beat Xavi Hernandez with ease, he fired an unstoppable shot past Jose Pinto into the top corner of the net.
Barcelona reacted to the goal with efforts from players such as Lionel
Messi and Sergio Busquets, who both failed to hit the target. However their equaliser came only fifteen minutes after the first goal, as Neymar scored his fourth goal of the campaign after running onto an exquisite pass from Andres Iniesta to produce a cool finish into the far corner. Both sides continued to attack in the remaining twenty minutes, with both failing to produce another goal, leaving it all to play for when Barca travelled to Madrid for the second leg.
Atletico opened the second leg determined to capitalise on their away goal and relative success in the first leg. The home side produced a flurry of chances in the first half, although the most surprising came in the fifth minute as Atletico defender Koke volleyed the ball past Jose Pinto from close range to score his first ever UEFA Champions League goal. Following the opener, David Villa produced a number of chances against his old club, including two that struck the woodwork after leaving Jose Pinto helpless. Barcelona fought hard to find the net, seeing promising chances from Lionel Messi and Neymar fail to hit their target. Atletico threatened to double their lead later in the game but Pinto managed to save an effort from Cristian Rodriguez.
The win sent Atletico into their first European competition semi final since 1974, and denied Barcelona’s progression into the semi-finals for the first time in seven seasons.
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Manchester United played host to German titans Bayern Munich in the first leg of their clash, with the visitors tipped heavily to come away with a win after United’s poor domestic performances. Although the hosts were set to belie all of the pre match predictions to produce the second draw of the evening.
United started with an abundance of energy, with Danny Welbeck helping the ball into the net after three minutes, only to see his effort disallowed for a high foot as he beat Javi Martinez. The rest of the half was dominated by Munich as they boasted an impressive possession percentage of 73. Despite their smaller amount of possession, it was Manchester United who came closest to scoring before the break as Welbeck found himself one on one with Manuel Neuer, only managing to chip the ball straight at the German international. United seemed to build on this relative success in the second half and they were rewarded as captain Nemanja Vidic broke the deadlock with a header into the far corner from Wayne Rooney’s corner in the 58th minute.