Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring the third goal during the Champions League quarterfinal first leg match between Manchester City and FC Bayern München at Etihad Stadium on April 11, 2023 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Champions League first leg quarterfinals round-up
Karim Benzema is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League quarterfinal first leg match between Real Madrid and Chelsea FC at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on April 12, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Fantasista/Getty Images)
The Champions League quarterfinals offered both surprises and expected results
The path to the Champions League final has gotten clearer for some teams while others will be hoping to turn things around at home in the second leg.
Some of the usual contenders came out with strong results while others came away with an unexpected result.
Manchester City shifted into gear against Bayern Munich
One of the knocks on Pep Guardiola was he overcomplicated matters when it came to the Champions League.
Against Bayern Munich on Tuesday, he certainly got everything right.
Manchester City dominated and came away with a 3-0 rout over the German giants. It was Thomas Tuchel’s first European fixture since taking over from Julian Nagelsmann and it’s fair to say both he and the club could get another go at it.
The match didn’t tilt one way or another early on until Rodrigo opened the score with a long-range strike. Bayern created some decent opportunities in the second half only to come up with nothing to show for it.
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Their aggressiveness to equalize could have played a hand in creating some nerves as Dayot Upamecano got dispossessed by Jack Grealish, which ultimately led to Bernardo Silva heading in a second.
Erling Haaland wasn’t going to be left out of the action as the Norwegian striker scored City’s third, adding a tally to his assist on the night.
The Premier League champions take a commanding advantage in the tie. While Bayern Munich are more than capable of turning the tie on its head, it seems unlikely they’ll be able to stop City from scoring, especially if they play anywhere close to what they showed in the first leg.
Inter Milan pull off a mini-upset against Benfica
The match between Benfica and Inter Milan was one of the more intriguing ones given the two sides were on par with one another.
Benfica have had a good showing so far in the competition and one couldn’t be blamed if they had them as favorites heading into the match.
On the other side, Inter got through a group featuring Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Despite some uneven results in Serie A, they’ve been better in the Champions League and showed it once again.
Nicolo Barella broke the deadlock in the second half before Romelu Lukaku increased the lead after converting a late penalty.
Real Madrid outclass Chelsea at the Santiago Bernabeu
Last season, Real Madrid pulled off some miraculous comebacks to reach the final and ultimately claim another European title. One of those rivals during their journey was Chelsea. This iteration of Chelsea can’t hold a candle to last season’s version.
Aside from a decent opening 15 minutes, Chelsea were second-best throughout the game. Karim Benzema once again opened the score for Madrid as he tapped in a loose ball that came off a save attempt from Kepa.
Before that, Joao Felix had a golden opportunity to give the visitors the lead, minutes into the match only for his shot to be easily saved by Thibaut Courtois. It was another instance where things could have gone differently if only Chelsea had a striker who could put his chances away.
Things went from bad to worse in the second half as Kalidou Koulibaly had to come off after picking up an injury. Marc Cucurella took his place and Madrid took advanatage.
Madrid played a ball over the top of Cucurella to Rodrygo. Ben Chillwell was the only defender in his way and left with no other recourse, he tugged at the Brazilian, forcing him down and then seeing a red card for his troubles.
It might have taken a bit longer than they would have expected, but Real Madrid scored their second courtesy of Marco Asensio.
While they could have won by more, Madrid didn’t have to do much else as Chelsea were non-existent in the attack. They looked like a team who hadn’t played together and we’re more than halfway through the season. The manager switch to Frank Lampard hasn’t improved things nor has their massive spending.
Barring a collapse or Chelsea managing to gel at the right time, Madrid have more than one foot through the door into the semifinals.
AC Milan stun Napoli
The all-Italian affair saw AC Milan frustrate Napoli and come away with a 1-0 win. Ismael Bennacer scored the winner in the 40th minute.
Without Victor Osimhen, Napoli looked toothless up front. Manager Luciano Spalleti said Osimhen should be fully recovered, and available, in time for the return leg.
While many would have rightly had Napoli as the favorites heading into the tie, the Serie A leaders have suffered some defeats recently, including against Milan. In their league fixture less than two weeks ago, Napoli suffered a 4-0 defeat against the Rossoneri.
Napoli will hope the return of Osimhen will be the key factor to turn things around when they play the return leg at home. While they have the league all but wrapped up, they undoubtedly want to make their mark in the Champions League.
