However their joy was to be short lived as Bayern levelled nine minutes later through an expertly finished half volley into the roof of the net from Bastian Schweinsteiger. The goal scorer was then sent off in the closing stages of the game after a second booking. As with Atletico and Barca, the stage was set for an interesting second leg.
The second leg started very similarly to the first, with Bayern Munich controlling the game through possession. With Mario Mandzukic heading up their front line, the German champions attempted to make the most of the flanks, yet attempts from Arjen Robben,
Ribery, Kroos and Gotze failed to hit the back of the net. Antonio Valencia also had a goal disallowed for United as it was deemed to be offside. Despite Bayern’s heavy possession, it was the visitors who struck first through Patrice Evra, as his spectacular strike put United into the lead in the 57th minute for the second time over the two legs. Just as in the first leg, Bayern were quick to respond, this time through a Mario Mandzukic header from Franck Ribery’s cross only two minutes later. Munich began to turn the screw & soon built on their success as Arjen Robben set up Thomas Muller, who converted smoothly. Robben then managed to grab a goal of his own as his deflected shot found the back of the net to book Bayern’s place in a fourth successive semi-final and further add to Manchester United’s lacklustre season.
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Next up in were Real Madrid, they were to play host to last year’s finalists Borussia Dortmund in a tie that saw the Spanish giants produce a trademark footballing master class. Gareth Bale opened the scoring in the third minute to score his ninth champions league goal as the Welshman latched on to a clever pass from Daniel Carvajal to poke the ball past the oncoming Roman Weidenfeller.
The hosts allowed Dortmund no time to recover as Cristiano Ronaldo produced a number of chances, forcing a number of acrobatic saves from Weidenfeller. Madrid’s inevitable second goal however was to come from midfielder Isco as he drove a low right footed shot into the bottom corner of the net from the edge of the area in the 27th minute. Bale produced another chance from a free kick soon after, only to be saved by the Dortmund keeper. At the other end, Kevin Grosskreutz tested Iker Casillas but still failed to produce a goal.
Both sides continued to push for goals until in the 57th minute Ronaldo collected a pass from Luka Modric to produce a clever finish. The goal meant that the Portugese forward equalled the record of 14 goals for a single European-cup campaign, held also by Lionel Messi and Jose Altafini.
Madrid were seen to sit back in the second leg, confident of their progression to the semi-finals through their first leg display. However their complacency almost cost them as the German outfit almost beat them to the semi-finals. The injured Cristiano Ronaldo was forced to sit this leg out as Borussia heaped the pressure onto Carlo Ancelotti’s men. Madrid were gifted the first major chance of the game as Lukasz Piszczek was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area. Dortmund were left to breathe a sigh of relief as Weidenfeller denied Angel Di Maria’s attempt from the resulting spot kick.
Madrid’s inability to score was set to be punished in the 24th minute as Marco Reus stole the ball from a backwards header from defender Pepe to skip around Iker Casillas and thread the ball past a scrambling Sergio Ramos. Reus doubled his tally for the evening after Lewandowski’s shot deflected off the post and the midfielder was there to fire the ball into the roof of the net. Dortmund continued to assault Madrid with chances, but goalkeeper Casillas was to be the hero of the round for Madrid as he denied opportunities from Mkhitaryan and Grosskreutz to ensure that Dortmund were left without a third goal, allowing the Spanish side to scrape their way into the semi-finals.
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In the final tie of the round, Chelsea faced reigning French champions PSG. The first leg was to have a home advantage for PSG, and they were sure to capitalise on that advantage. Laurent Blanc’s side started strongly, using their highly attacking midfield to dangerous effect.
This paid off for the home side within four minutes as John