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Wednesday 6 April 2016

UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals Review.


This year's UEFA Champions League Quarter-finals clashes kicked-off on Tuesday with the two Spanish giants FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid facing off at the Camp Now, and also FC Bayern played to Benfica with Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, Manchester City and PSG also playing on Wednesday.


Barcelona had Luis Suarez to thank as they battled back to a 2-1 Champions League victory over Atletico Madrid, with the Uruguayan hitman netting both the hosts' goals in an enthralling contest.

Luis Enrique's side were still smarting from a 2-1 Clasico defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday, and Camp Nou was stunned into silence once more when Fernando Torres struck the opening goal of the game - and his 11th in 15 games against Barca - with Atletico's first shot on target after 25 minutes.


Torres made preserving his side's advantage far more difficult when he picked up a needless second booking just 10 minutes after scoring, and Barca began to turn up the pressure.

Atleti's admirable resistance was eventually broken when Suarez steered home Jordi Alba's effort on 63 minutes, and the Uruguay striker finished off a fine team move 16 minutes from time to give Luis Enrique's side the lead with his seventh goal in five home Champions League games this season.


Elsewhere, Bayern Munich will carry a 1-0 advantage into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final with Benfica after claiming a narrow success at the Alianz Arena on Tuesday. Arturo Vidal's early header put the Bundesliga champions in the driving seat ahead of the return match in Portugal next Wednesday.





Real Madrid's hopes of taking the Champions League crown were dealt a blow thanks to exceptional Wolfsburg, who downed the Spanish giants 2-0 to take a commanding lead in the quarter-final tie.
Ricardo Rodriguez found the net from the penalty spot after Casemiro was adjudged to have fouled Andre Schurrle inside the area, before Arnold added a second midway through the opening half of the quarter-final first-leg tie at the Volkswagen Arena.
Madrid now face a tough task to turn things around when both sides meet again at the Santiago Bernabeu on April 12, after a disappointing display coming four days after their Clasico triumph at the home of fierce rivals Barcelona.

To round all the fixtures up, Manchester City scored two crucial away goals in the first-leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain but were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw in a hectic contest at the Parc des Prices on Wednesday.



After Joe Hart saved Zlatan Ibrahimovic's early penalty, the visitors struck first at the Parc des Princes when Kevin De Bruyne finished off a quick counter-attack, thrashing a shot beyond PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp to register his 14th goal of the season.

However, a shocking error from Fernando gifted Ibrahimovic an equaliser, the Swede's attempt to block a pass ending up in the net to make amends for his earlier profligacy.



Adrien Rabiot put PSG ahead when tapping home from close range after the hour, but Fernandinho made the most of a lucky break inside the box to grab Manuel Pellegrini's men what could be a crucial draw in the French capital.


Photo credit: uefa.com

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