Champions League quarterfinals 1st leg

The UEFA Champions League is starting to reach the most important part of the season and the final competitors are now at full display in the first leg of the quarterfinals. There were some very interesting results and even more interesting developments going on during these matches.

Half-time in the quarter-finals! 👀

Will any team mount a second-leg comeback? 🤔#UCL pic.twitter.com/K1lSywV8So

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 12, 2023

The first game of the quarterfinals was probably the one that had the least expectations, this being Italian giants Inter Milan visiting Portuguese side Benfica this last Tuesday, but it proved to be a very positive evening for Simone Inzaghi’s team. The Italians showed a lot of resilience during certain parts of the game, kept a clean sheet, and got a 2-0 win that could prove monumental to reach the semifinals in the second leg.

This result was particularly important to Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who recently went through racial insults against Juventus in the Coppa Italia and scored a penalty kick against Benfica, giving his team the 2-0 lead.

The other match that Tuesday was Bayern Munich visiting Manchester City, but the Bavarian side was a shadow of their former self of previous seasons and lost 3-0, continuing what has been a very atypical season for their club, considering the sacking of the manager Julian Nagelsmann, dressing room issues and so on. City were completely dominant from beginning to end and goals by Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland secured their victory.

There were also reports of a massive problem between Bayern forward Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane. Both players were arguing during the game, and the conflict continued in the dressing room, with Mane punching Sane in the face. This has resulted in the Senegalese forward being suspended for a game and now there are increasing rumors of him leaving in the summer.

Italian giants AC Milan had recently defeated Serie A leaders Napoli by a 4-0 margin in the league and continued their dominance over the latter with an impressive 1-0 victory in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. The Rossoneri showed off a bit of their Champions League pedigree and managed to hold down a Napoli side that suffered the loss of Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen due to injury in recent weeks, which proved to be costly for Luciano Spaletti’s team.

However, that tie is still quite open and Napoli has proven to be very strong at home, so that series is still open for both sides.

The same cannot be said about Real Madrid vs. Chelsea. The Blues have struggled massively this season, with their performances being quite poor despite the major investments new owner Todd Boehly has done since his arrival last summer. After the sackings of managers Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has taken over the role for a second time, but it wasn’t enough to slow down a superior Madrid side that won 2-0 thanks to goals by Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio.

Embed from Getty Images

Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell was sent off in the 59^th minute due to a mistake made by his teammate, Marc Cucurella, and the Blues faithful would be glad that it was only 2-0 as there was a lot of difference between both sides and they are probably just wanting their season to end.

Rodri, Barella, Bennacer, Asensio… ⚽

Who scored the best goal this week? #UCLGOTW || @Heineken

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 12, 2023