Tuesday’s Champions League games saw the second leg of the Quarter Finals between Barcelona and Manchester United, as well as Juventus v Ajax.
With Wednesday’s games seeing Manchester City take on Tottenham and Liverpool travel to Porto.
FC Barcelona v Manchester United
3-0 (4-0 agg)
Manchester United’s Champions League run came to a close as Lionel Messi inspired Barcelona to a crushing victory in the second leg.
The Red Devils headed into the game facing a one goal deficit, and looked the stronger team up until Messi‘s goals, the first a classic masterpiece, the second a glaring mistake from United keeper David De Gea.
Philippe Coutinho added a third for Barca in the 61st minute, curling a stunning effort into the top corner from distance.
United’s came closest to scoring just 40 seconds in when Marcus Rashford‘s shot hit the crossbar. Alexis Sanchez forced a spectacular save from Marc Andre ter Stegen in the 90th minute, but apart from those two opportunities they didn’t come close.
It was a sobering night for United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the ground where he scored his most famous goal, the stoppage-time winner in the 1999 Champions League Final.
Barca now meet Liverpool in the semi-finals.
Up Next:
Champions League
Barcelona v Liverpool – Tuesday, April 30 (3pm)
Manchester United – Eliminated
La Liga
Barca v Real Sociedad – Saturday, April 2o (2:45pm)
Premier League
Everton v United – Sunday, April 21 (8:30am)
Juventus v Ajax
1-2 (2-3 agg)
Ajax’s incredible Champions League journey continues thanks to teenage captain Matthijs de Ligt‘s goal eliminating Juventus and securing their place in the semi-finals, where they will face Tottenham Hotspur.
Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time winner of the tournament, headed the hosts in front from a first half corner. It’s the first time since May 2015 that Ronaldo has been knocked out of the tournament.
Ajax battled back with Donny van de Beek slotting past Wojciech Szczesny for the equalizer.
The away-goals rule left Juve needing two in the remaining 23 minutes, but they couldn’t find a way through the confident Ajax defense.
As they did after their sensational away win over Real Madrid in the previous round, a youthful Ajax side bounced in front of their raucous supporters as the home fans headed for the exits.
Facing another big team in Spurs, can Ajax do the unimaginable? Could they make it the Final by knocking out three of Europe’s greatest teams?
Up Next:
Champions League
Juve – Eliminated
Spurs v Ajax – Tuesday, April 30 (3pm)
Serie A
Juve v Fiorentina – Saturday, April 2o (12pm)
Eredivisie
Groningen v Ajax – Saturday, April 20 (12:30pm)
FC Porto v Liverpool
1-4 (1-6 agg)
Liverpool swept Porto aside with a thumping 6-1 aggregate victory to reach the Champions League semi-finals where they’ll meet Barcelona.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg at Anfield, goals from Sadio Mane, Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Virgil van Dijk secured a place in the semis for Jurgen Klopp‘s side.
Porto bombarded the Reds early on in a saturated Estadio do Dragao, before Mane opened the scoring with a sliding effort. Salah stroked in a second after the break from a beautiful counter-attack before Real Madrid-bound Eder Miliato pulled a goal back for the hosts.
Liverpool reasserted their power through close-range headers from Firmino and van Dijk, sealing an impressive win.
The Reds will face Barcelona in the first leg of their semi final at the Nou Camp on Tuesday, April 30.
Up Next:
Champions League
Barcelona v Liverpool – Tuesday, April 30 (3pm)
Primeira Liga
Porto v Santa Clara – Saturday, April 20 (3:30pm)
Premier League
Cardiff v Liverpool – Sunday, April 21 (11am)
Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur
4-3 (4-4 agg – Spurs go through on away goal rule)
Tottenham fought their way back in a Champions League classic at the Etihad Stadium to reach the final four of the competition for the first time.
Fernando Llorente‘s goal, which was bundled in from a corner and confirmed by VAR 17 minutes from time, gave Mauricio Pochettino‘s side the win on away goals after a night of high tension, quality attacking and defensive frailty ended City’s mission for a historic quadruple of the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup.
As if the affair wasn’t dramatic enough, City thought they’d won it in injury time only to find Raheem Sterling‘s goal had been ruled for offside on Sergio Aguero by VAR.
The Englishman opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a beautiful curler from the edge of the box, but Spurs responded with a Son Heung-min double, as he took advantage of errors by Aymeric Laporte.
Sterling went on to score again, before goals form Bernado Silva and Aguero made it look like they’d turned around their first-leg deficit. Only to see Llorente‘s late goal knock them out.
Tottenham now face Ajax after both sides had an unforgettable quarter final that left everyone stunned and breathless.
Up Next:
Champions League
Spurs v Ajax – Tuesday, April 30 (3pm)
Premier League
City v Spurs – Saturday, April 20 (7:30am)
ALL TIMES U.S. EASTERN
Leave a Reply