@championsleague
Real Madrid vs. Juventus 4/11/18
On Wednesday afternoon Real Madrid came out on top to qualify for the Champions League semifinals as they managed to score a late winner to beat Italian side Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero once again, scoring a penalty deep in stoppage time to send his side through to the next round of the champions league. The penalty was given for Mehdi Benatia’s foul on Lucas Vazquez, which was a huge decision by the referee, but was probably correct.
Benatia had gotten the wrong side of Vazquez, 2 yards from goal after Ronaldo got knockdown, and appeared to push him sending the striker off balance as he attempted to poke the ball away. Ronaldo waited patiently to take the penalty because the referee was ambushed by multiple Juventus players who were questioning the his decision. Immediately after the referee confirmed the penalty, Juventus goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, was sent off for shoving the referee. Former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, came on to take his place. Ronaldo, having so much experience, slotted the ball neatly finished into the top corner.
All the drama of the final minutes will overshadow what came before, but Juventus deserves tremendous credit for fighting their way back into the tie after a first-leg hammering that also saw them lose their most dangerous striker and player, Paulo Dybala.
Juventus took the lead in only the second minute, Mario Mandzukic heading the ball in at the back post following a very good cross by Sami Khedira. They almost had a second five minutes later, following more good work by Douglas Costa down the right wing. As Real Madrid re-established control of the ball after a bad start to the game, they looked unstable at the back without suspended captain Sergio Ramos and could find no way through Juventus’ well-organized defense.
The Italian side doubled their lead in the 37th minute. Mandzukic claimed another goal to add to his first, this time heading in Stephan Lichsteiner’s cross at the back post. The game followed the same pattern after the break, with Real largely dominating possession, but Juventus still caused threats on the break. They were rewarded with a third goal around the 60-minute mark, as Blaise Matuidi took advantage of a Keylor Navas error to make it a 3-0 lead for Juventus.
With the match seemingly headed to extra time, Benatia fouled Vazquez, the referee pointed to the spot and Ronaldo slotted home the winner in the 92ndminute to put the game to bed. This was a remarkable tie between two of Europe’s top teams, and a remarkably cruel way for Juventus to get knocked out.
Buffon had announced in October that this would be his last Champions League campaign unless his side won the final, after which he had intended to play in the Club World Cup. This game was his 650thappearance for Italian side Juventus.
Bayern Munich vs. Sevilla 4/11/18
A goalless draw against Sevilla Wednesday night was enough to send Bayern Munich into the Champions League semifinals with a 2-1 aggregate victory to keep their hopes of a treble-winning season alive.
It’s never a rare sight to see German side Bayern Munich advancing through the rounds; this is their seventh Champions League quarter-final in a row. Bayern never needed to hit top form but were mostly in control throughout the game as the Spaniards attempted to get past Bayern’s defense, but they were just too experienced.
The Germans, who last won the treble in 2013, again under coach Jupp Heynckes, as they secured a 2-1 advantage from last week’s first leg and advanced to the semifinals which hopes to be a very exciting tie between four top class teams.
Sevilla started to get frustrated with Bayern’s tactics. The Spanish side ended up with 10 men in stoppage time which resulted in Joaquin Correa getting sent off for a rough challenge on Javi Martinez.
In a physical first half, Bayern, fresh from securing the Bundesliga title last weekend, were by far the more dangerous team with Robert Lewandowski and Franck Ribery coming very close to scoring. Bayern’s goalkeeper was rarely troubled by Seville’s attacks.
Sevilla are seventh in La Liga but have been a surprise package in the Champions League, and they surprised everyone by having more possession than their illustrious hosts in the first half —54 percent to 46 percent.
At the start of the second half, Polish striker Robert Lewandowski who was sporting a swollen eye after some forceful defending, also narrowly headed the ball wide four minutes after the restart. Sevilla at times looked to be lacking a sense of urgency and were badly let down by their final pass, stumbling time and again at the edge of the box and failing to get a shot on target in the entire first half.
Sevilla managed to hit the bar with a header at the hour and Ever Banega took a shot which went narrowly wide a little later as they upped the pressure briefly in search of the two goals they needed.
As Sevilla ran out of ideas, the match ended with a touch of uproar as Correa was shown a straight red card for a poor and late challenge on Martinez. Bayern, though, having won 20 of their last 21 Champions League matches at home going into the game, could once again celebrate a familiar last-four ticket with ease.
With Bayern into the semi-finals for the seventh time in nine years, join Liverpool, Roma and Real Madrid in the draw, which takes place in Nyon, Switzerland.
