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HOLDERS BAYERN MUNICH OUT OF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DESPITE WIN IN PARIS

Paris St Germain knocked holders Bayern Munich out of the Champions League on away goals despite losing the second leg of their quarter-final 1-0 at Parc des Princes.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men had edged a thrilling first-leg clash 3-2 in Munich, and saw Neymar denied by the woodwork twice before Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting bundled the Germans in front on the night with a close-range header just before half-time.

Bayern, though, could not find another away goal as the Ligue 1 side, who had Mbappe’s late effort ruled out for offside, progressed to the semi-finals.

Mbappe, who had scored twice in the first leg, forced an early chance when he drilled a low shot across the face of goal after being played in by Neymar down the right.

The France forward then saw a low cross deflected through to Neymar, but his effort was blocked by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Bayern, again without injured Poland forward Robert Lewandowski, finally threatened at the other end when Leroy Sane curled an effort wide before Joshua Kimmich drilled a low shot wide.

PSG, beaten by Bayern in the final of last season’s rescheduled tournament, were soon back on the offensive as Mbappe got away down the left to pick out Neymar.

Neuer, though, again showed quick reactions to close the angle and make a block.

Neymar then almost crafted the opening goal in the 37th minute when a clever drag back turned past Kingsley Coman on the edge of the Bayern penalty area and his curling shot dropped onto the crossbar.

Amazingly the Brazil forward was again denied by the woodwork just moments later after being played in by Mbappe when his shot came back off the post.

Bayern rode their luck and went straight up the other end to break the deadlock five minutes before half-time.

Coman’s run found David Alaba in the PSG penalty area, and his low shot was saved by Keylor Navas.

However, the ball spun back up into the air and Choupo-Moting held off PSG defender Presnel Kimpembe to nod in from close range.

Navas then redeemed himself to deny Alaba, whose left-foot drive appeared destined for the top-left corner, before Sane shot straight at the PSG keeper shortly ahead of half-time.

PSG went on the offensive again at the start of the second half, Neymar’s half-volley dipping over before Angel Di Maria’s sent a dangerous low cross through the Bayern six-yard box.

With time running out for the holders, Thomas Muller forced a decent stop from Navas after being played clear by Sane.

Mbappe thought he had put the tie to bed when he broke clear into the Bayern half to fire the ball past Neuer into the top corner, but was correctly ruled offside.

Bayern continued to throw everything forward, leaving themselves vulnerable on the break, but could not force any late drama as Sane’s low cross into the six-yard box was smothered by Navas.

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CHELSEA PUNISH WASTEFUL PORTO TO PUT ONE FOOT IN UCL SEMIS

A classy goal from Mason Mount on Wednesday helped Chelsea to a 2-0 first-leg win over Porto, whose wasteful finishing could have scuppered their hopes of springing another Champions League upset in the quarter-finals.

Mount’s slick turn and shot in the first half would have been painful enough for Porto, who were the better side for large spells of this first leg in Seville but repeatedly lacked the precision to take advantage.

Instead, their misery was compounded by Ben Chilwell capitalising on a mistake at the back to score a late second that gave Chelsea another away goal and leaves them on the brink of the semi-finals.

They were away goals only in name given both these teams were playing in the unfamiliar Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where they will meet again next week, just with the home and away roles reversed.

Porto were in the home dug-out, wore their home kit, had a large club banner in the empty stand behind one goal and their anthem was the one that played out before kick-off.

And Chelsea played the part too, delivering a classic away performance of soaking up the pressure and hitting their opponents on the counter-attack, their quality in the final third proving decisive.

Real Madrid could lie in wait for the victors, after they beat Liverpool 3-1 on Tuesday.

Chelsea’s win also goes some way to easing the shock of Saturday’s 5-2 loss at home to West Brom in the Premier League, which ended Thomas Tuchel’s 14-match unbeaten start as coach.

Tuchel decided Thiago Silva’s 29 minutes before being sent off in that game were not enough to hone his sharpness, meaning Andreas Christensen was picked in the back three.

And Antonio Rudiger also returned, despite his training ground scuffle with Kepa Arrizabalaga on Sunday, which Tuchel described as a “serious situation”.

Porto were regarded as the plum draw in the last eight, despite seeing off Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus in the last 16, their task made harder this time by the suspensions of Mehdi Taremi and top scorer Sergio Oliveira.

But they were the aggressors from the outset, with Chelsea surrendering the ball and the chances.

Porto had six shots to Chelsea’s one before half-time, with Mateus Uribe grazing the top of the net with an early volley and the excellent Otavio almost catching Edouard Mendy out with a corner before Zaidu Sanusi smashed over the rebound.

Chelsea, though, showed them what ruthlessness looked like when Jorginho fired a pass into Mount on the edge of the area inside the right channel. Mount took it on his back foot and twisted away from the sliding Zaidu, before firing a cool finish into the far corner.

Porto kept coming in the second half and kept missing too. Moussa Marega snuck in but his shot was saved by the feet of Mendy before Jesus Corona feathered Luis Diaz through but he took too long. Diaz curled wide after a good run by Wilson Manafa.

Chelsea absorbed them and then hit them with a sucker-punch, Mateo Kovacic’s ball over the top miscontrolled by Corona, allowing Chilwell to steam clear, round the goalkeeper and finish.

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UCL: MBAPPE ON THE DOUBLE AS PSG BEAT BAYERN 3-2 IN QUARTER FINAL FIRST LEG

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 3-2 in a thrilling first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie in Munich on Wednesday.

Mbappe’s goals bracketed strikes from Marquinhos, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Thomas Muller to give the defending champions — who were without star striker Robert Lewandowski — a steep hill to climb for the return leg in Paris next week.

PSG went ahead just three minutes after the opening whistle with a quick counter-attack that the excellent Mbappe finished off after Neymar rolled the ball into his path on the right.

The visitors had the goal in the net in the 12th minute through Julian Draxler, but the side judge rightly ruled Mbappe offside in the build up.

PSG went two goals in front after 28 minutes when Marquinhos settled and stroked home from a smart Neymar pass that caught the Bayern back line out of position.

Bayern, who’d peppered PSG with shots all night, got a deserved goal through Choupo-Moting in the 37th minute, and tied the game in the 60th minute with a characteristic Muller header in the box.

Mbappe, though, put the Parisians ahead for good eight minutes later with a fine individual effort from another counter-attack — the World Cup winner cutting in from the left and beating Manuel Neuer at the near post.

The goals marked the young France international’s seventh in the Champions League knockout stages, passing Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the most in PSG history. The brace — his third in the UCL knockouts — also tied Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland for the second most by a player before turning 23 in the competition’s history. Lionel Messi had four such games.

“It was a difficult game against the best team in Europe right now,” Mbappe said after the match. “But it is just the first game. [Next week] we have to play with confidence and play again like a team.”

“It was a superb team performance above all, and I benefited from that. We suffered, but we suffered as a team.”

Bayern’s Muller rued the number of missed chances after the game.

“We should have scored far more goals,” Mueller said. “Of course, we can talk about conceding goals, but if you win 6-3 or 5-3 then no one can complain.

“If we had shown the killer instinct that characterises us then it would have been a different game.”
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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE COME BACK DIFFICULT IN AN EMPTY ANFIELD – KLOPP

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists his side are not ‘comeback kings’ and turning around their Champions League fortunes will not be easy – especially at an empty Anfield.

A 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the quarter-final first leg immediately led to parallels with what they did to Barcelona in the 2019 semi-final second leg when they won 4-0 to turn around a 3-0 deficit from the Nou Camp.

That paved the way for them to win a sixth European Cup but it was achieved in an electric atmosphere at a packed Anfield which will go down as one of the greatest nights in the club’s history.

Next Wednesday they must do something similar, with the away goal helping slightly, but behind closed doors.

“Of course, it is completely different. Completely different,” said Klopp.

“If you want to have some emotional memories, then you watch the Barcelona game back and 80 per cent of this game was the atmosphere in the stadium, so yes, we have to do it without that.

“But it is not that I sit here and think, ‘Comebacks are our thing, we do it all the time’. We did from time to time but we always had supporters in the stadium.

“We don’t have that this time so I don’t know if we can do it, but I can promise you we will give it a proper try.

“It must be a really tricky task for Real Madrid at Anfield with or without supporters.

“This here (at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium inside Madrid’s club’s training ground) was really strange.

“It was really difficult, a different situation with the stadium, but Anfield is at least a proper stadium and that will be good for us.”

In a season of ups and downs, a week ago the most likely route back into the Champions League next season for Liverpool looked like coming from winning the competition itself.

However, a win over Arsenal and other results going their way has put the top four back within reach as they sit just three points adrift of West Ham, who occupy fourth place, with only one of their remaining eight games against a team (Manchester United) higher than ninth.

But Klopp said it was not realistic to just flip-flop between prioritising competitions.

“We cannot be picky with that, we have to go for everything,” he added.

“It’s not like we can now make the decision after that game there is no chance for us in the Champions League any more.

“In the Premier League, we cannot change it every week – we have to fight until the end and we will.

“This was a really good result for Real Madrid and it’s not that we have any kind of advantage, but with each day and each minute that will go until the next game the 3-1 will not be that good any more for Real Madrid and not that bad any more for us because there is, of course, a chance.

“But we have to play much better football (and) we cannot get it like tonight. For example, when we played against Barcelona and lost (the first leg) 3-0 we played a super game. That’s a massive difference.

“We can play much better (than against Madrid) and we can be much more uncomfortable to play against than we were and that’s what we have to make sure next week.

“Now we have to recover first and then concentrate on Aston Villa, which is for us a very important game, not only because of the results we had recently or in this season against them.”

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Defiant Borussia Dortmund warn Man City tie not over yet

Borussia Dortmund interim coach Edin Terzic has warned Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola that their Champions League quarter-final tie is far from over despite a 2-1 win for the hosts at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

Guardiola was complimentary about Dortmund’s performance after the game but Terzic, whose side had levelled the contest at 1-1 six minutes from the end before Phil Foden’s last-gasp winner, said his side were ready for another bite at the cherry.

“Pep had some nice words for me at full-time, but we’re not done yet. We’ll see each other again in eight days’ time,” said Terzic. “It’s halftime and the tie is still open.

“We’ll be ready to give it our all to overturn the result and reach the next round. We kept their chances to a minimum and posed a threat ourselves going forward. It was evenly matched so we’re disappointed with the result in the end,” he added.

Dortmund skipper Marco Reus was upset with the way his side had allowed City to take an advantage to Germany.

“We’re annoyed. Conceding a second right before the end was unnecessary. Two seconds of us switching off and they showed their quality. We have to stop the cross coming in. On the whole though, I think we produced a great performance,” he said.

Guardiola was clear his City side would not be trying to defend their one goal advantage next Wednesday.

“We are going to Dortmund to win the game. In the first half tonight, we were not clever with the ball. The second half was much better and we had two or three clear chances to score a second or third when it was 1-0,” he said.

“To play in the positions we want to, we have to have good build-up play. We have another chance next week.”

“Borussia Dortmund are a typical club from the Champions League. They have played in this competition for many years and know what to do. We are going there to score,” he added.

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Vinícius Junior leads Real Madrid past Liverpool in 1st leg of CL quarterfinals

The game was a rematch of the 2018 Champions League final won by the same score by Madrid, which since then was eliminated in the tournament’s round of 16 two years in a row. Liverpool won the title following the loss to Madrid but was also eliminated in the round of 16 last season.

Vinícius Júnior finally came up with the type of performance Real Madrid fans have been expecting from him.

The Brazilian forward netted his first double for the club on Tuesday, leading it to a 3-1 over Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

The youngster tormented the Liverpool defense all night and was precise with his finishes, moving the Spanish powerhouse closer to the semifinals after a two-year absence.

People outside of the club criticize me, but I keep working hard,” the 20-year-old Vinícius Júnior said. “That gives me the strength to arrive at an important moment like this and score the goals that the team needed.”

Marco Asensio also scored for Madrid, which took full advantage of Liverpool’s defensive blunders in the first half to take a commanding lead ahead of next week’s second leg in England.

Mohamed Salah netted the lone goal for Liverpool early in the second half before Vinícius Júnior sealed the victory for the hosts.

“If you want to go to the semifinals, you have to earn the right to do so,” Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp said. “We didn’t do that tonight, especially in the first half, so the only good thing really that I can say about the game apart from the fact we scored the goal, is that it’s only the first leg.”

The game was a rematch of the 2018 Champions League final won by the same score by Madrid, which since then was eliminated in the tournament’s round of 16 two years in a row. Liverpool won the title following the loss to Madrid but was also eliminated in the round of 16 last season.

Manchester City defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at home in the other quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Liverpool recently endured a run of poor results and sits only seventh in the Premier League, so it may have to win the Champions League to return to the European competition next season.

It looked lost at the start of the match at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium in Madrid, unable to get a shot on goal in the first half.

Vinícius Júnior opened the scoring on a breakaway in the 27th after a superb long pass over the top by Toni Kroos. The Brazilian forward made a nice run between Liverpool defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Nathaniel Phillips then chested the ball down before firing a low right-footed shot from inside the area past goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Vinícius Júnior, who had scored only one goal since October and four in total this season, arrived to Madrid amid high expectations as a teenager but had been criticized for his poor finishes and bad decisions in front of goal. He pointed to the team’s shield both times after scoring.

“I’m happy for him, he needed to score,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “He has been playing well and helping the team. When you score it gives you more energy, that’s for sure.”

Another long pass by Kroos — and a defensive blunder by Liverpool — led to Asensio’s second goal in the 36th. Alexander-Arnold tried to clear the ball from Kroos but headed it across the area directly to Asensio, who flipped the ball over the charging Becker and finished the move on the other side to push it into the open net.

Liverpool complained of a foul by Lucas Vázquez on Sadio Mané just moments before Madrid’s second goal.

The English side improved after the break and was able to pull one back early in the second half with Salah finding the net from close range after a shot by Diogo Jota was partially blocked by Luka Modric in the 51st. The goal had to be confirmed by video review because of a possible offside by Salah.

With the goal, Salah became the fifth Liverpool player to score in four consecutive European appearances.

Asensio, who scored in each of Madrid’s last four games in all competitions, squandered the chance to increase Madrid’s lead on a breakaway in the 64th. But a minute later, Vinícius Júnior didn’t miss his opportunity after a pass by Modric amid more soft defending by the English team, finding the net with a shot from near the penalty spot.

Liverpool had kept four consecutive clean sheets away from home going into the game in Madrid. It has not had five in a row in away games this century.

Madrid got the win even though its defensive problems compounded just before the game as Raphael Varane tested positive for the coronavirus. Captain Sergio Ramos had already been ruled out because of an injury.

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UCL: REAL MADRID DEFENDER TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 AHEAD LIVERPOOL CLASH

Raphael Varane tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, Real Madrid said, leaving the team facing a crisis in defence ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Liverpool.

Madrid are already without the injured Sergio Ramos, meaning Nacho Fernandez and Eder Militao are the only fit central defenders left in Zinedine Zidane’s squad for the game against Liverpool in the Spanish capital later on Tuesday.

“Real Madrid C. F. informs that our player Raphael Varane tested positive in the COVID-19 test he underwent this morning,” a club statement read.

Varane’s absence comes at the worst possible time for Madrid, with the Frenchman also expected to miss Saturday’s Clasico against Barcelona and the return leg against Liverpool at Anfield next week.

Varane has been a key part of Real Madrid’s upturn in form in recent weeks, which has seen the team go 11 games unbeaten and move to within three points of La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona are just a point behind Atletico, with the Clasico at Valdebebas this weekend set to mark a crucial point in the Spanish title race.

Madrid have had six positive cases of COVID-19 this season, Varane following Militao, Eden Hazard, Casemiro, Luka Jovic and Nacho in catching the virus.

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AHEAD UCL QUARTER FINAL CLASH: ZINEDINE ZIDANE PRAISES LIVERPOOL AS A COMPLETE TEAM

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has praised Liverpool as “a complete team” ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal first leg but said he believes critics were too hasty to write off Madrid’s chances of winning silverware this year.

Both teams have struggled for consistency at times this season, but Real Madrid are now just three points behind leaders Atletico Madrid in La Liga, while Liverpool are two points off the Premier League top four.

“They’re a complete team,” Zidane said at a news conference on Monday. “Some people will mention the three forwards, and it’s true that they’re really good, but I think they’re a strong, solid unit. I’d rather focus on the team. After that, yes, the three forwards are really efficient. We’ll have to be alert.”

Zidane’s job looked to be under threat earlier in the campaign, with Madrid on the brink of being knocked out of the Champions League group stage for the first time.

The team lost their opening European fixture 3-2 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, then drew 2-2 with Borussia Monchengladbach, before back-to-back wins over Inter Milan were followed by another defeat 2-0 to Shakhtar.

There was more pressure on Zidane in January, when Madrid were knocked out of the Spanish Supercopa by Athletic Bilbao and the Copa del Rey by third-tier Alcoyano, and lost at home to Levante in La Liga.

“Yes, I think so,” Zidane said, when asked if his team had been written off prematurely. “I believe in my team and I have confidence in them, I know what they can do. But we can’t change that… The good thing with this team, this club’s history, is that we never give up on things. Where there’s life, there’s hope, and we’re alive in two competitions.”

Real Madrid and Liverpool last met in the 2018 Champions League final in Kiev, when a Gareth Bale brace gave Madrid a 3-1 victory over Jurgen Klopp’s team.

Since then, Liverpool have gone on to win the competition in Madrid in 2019 and ended a 30-year wait for the Premier League title a year later.

“Since the final we played, they’ve won the Champions League, and we lost Cristiano [Ronaldo],” defender Nacho Fernandez said. “But I don’t think there’s much difference between us. We’re competitive, we’ve won a lot of trophies, we’re in great form and we have a great squad.”

Zidane wouldn’t confirm if Eden Hazard would be available for Tuesday’s match at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium, after the forward took part in training on Monday.

Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said that his side were not looking to see revenge for the 2018 final defeat

“We are not on a revenge tour here,” he told a news conference on Monday. “I don’t believe too much in revenge, but it would be nice to get through.

“Madrid are outstanding — sometimes you meet opponents again. It is nothing to do with the Premier League season either.

“I cannot get that feeling back, that anger or whatever, so I don’t even try. If we are better than Real Madrid or score more goals, then we can go to the next round.

“We are still in the fight for the Champions League spots. We have to chase the teams ahead of us, we have to chase Real Madrid tomorrow, who are in a really good moment.

“Very experienced. If someone knows how to win the Champions League, it is Real Madrid.”

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UCL 2021 QUARTER FINAL DRAW: LIVERPOOL DRAW REAL MADRID, BAYERN FACE PSG

UEFA held the draw for the 2020-21 Champions League quarterfinals Friday, with defending champion Bayern Munich receiving a matchup with last year’s fellow finalist Paris Saint-Germain.
Here’s a look at the full results from the draw:

Quarterfinal 1: Manchester City vs. Borussia Dortmund
Quarterfinal 2: Porto vs. Chelsea
Quarterfinal 3: Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Quarterfinal 4: Real Madrid vs. Liverpool

And here’s the semifinal bracket order:

Winner of Quarterfinal 3 vs. Winner of Quarterfinal 1
Winner of Quarterfinal 4 vs. Winner of Quarterfinal 2
The quarterfinal matches will take place April 6-7 and April 13-14. The complete fixture schedule will be released later Friday.

A two-leg rematch of last season’s final between Bayern and PSG should be a treat for football fans with both clubs coming off dominant performances in the round of 16.

The German side cruised to a 6-2 aggregate triumph over Lazio, while the French team eased past Barcelona 5-2 on aggregate on the strength of a 4-1 win in the first leg.

Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski explained coming into the campaign the club faced a lot of pressure to live up to the high standard it set by winning the treble last term.

“If you play so good in the last season, then everyone is looking at you now and how you will be in the new season,” Lewandowski told reporters in September. “And if you are on the top you have to work harder to stay longer on the top. And I think so for us that is the big challenge for this season.”

So far the Bavarians have lived up to those expectations as they sit atop the Bundesliga table with 58 points, four points clear of second-place RB Leipzig, while also having captured the DFL-Supercup in September and staying alive to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

The matchup with Paris Saint-Germain represents their toughest test to date, though.

While the winner of the Bayern-PSG quarterfinal may be viewed as the tournament favorite heading toward the semifinals, this is a deep field littered with legitimate title contenders.

Six of the eight clubs have clear title hopes and even the two longer shots, Dortmund and Porto, have enough attacking firepower to make a run to the final.

It sets the stage for an entertaining, highly competitive finish to this year’s Champions League over the next two months.

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HOLDERS BAYERN MUNICH EASE PAST LAZIO TO REACH UCL QUARTER FINAL.

Bayern Munich breezed into the Champions League quarter-finals after a comfortable win over Lazio.

The defending champions reached the last eight with a 2-1 victory at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.

Robert Lewandowski’s first-half penalty and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s goal eased them to an 6-2 aggregate win to keep them on course for a seventh title.

Marco Parolo did pull a late goal back for spirited Lazio but they never looked like fighting back from their first-leg defeat.

Leading 4-1 from the first leg after a thumping win in Rome Bayern went for the kill and Leroy Sane bent an effort wide after 13 minutes.

Bayern have not lost to an Italian side at home for 10 years and the unbeaten streak was never in doubt once the visitors conceded a penalty after 31 minutes.

Vedat Muriqi hauled Leon Goretzka down from a corner and Lewandowski sent Pepe Reina the wrong way from the spot.

It was the striker’s 39th club goal of another prolific season – his 73rd in the Champions League – and gave Lazio too much to do to recover.

There was little fightback from the Italians and Reina stopped them falling further behind when he denied Lewandowski just after half-time.

Bayern pressed well with former Manchester City wideman Sane a danger on the right and Lewandowski came closer to his second after 67 minutes.

A slick move left the striker free on the edge of the box and his low drive thumped the base of the post.

Alex Nubel saved well from Joaquin Correa from a rare Lazio opening but Bayern made it 2-0 on the night when they sliced through the visitors with 17 minutes left.

David Alaba picked out Choupo-Moting and his clipped finish beat the onrushing Reina.

But Lazio grabbed a consolation with eight minutes left when Parolo headed in Andreas Pereira’s deep free-kick from close range.

Serge Gnabry should have made it 3-1, only to shoot tamely wide after being found by Sane with two minutes left.