Champions League: quarters locked — Barca routs Newcastle
The Champions League quarterfinal draw is set — ties include Liverpool vs PSG and Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid — after a round of 16 that’s been the highest scoring in over 60 years. Barcelona demolished Newcastle 7–2 on Mar. 19 (Raphinha and Lewandowski scored twice), and Lewandowski now holds a record of scoring against 41 different UCL clubs. ( )
The round-of-16 produced a tournament-high 68 goals across both legs, the most in a single Champions League last-16 since the 1959–60 season and up from the previous 62-goal mark in 2016–17. (espn.com) UEFA has set the quarter-final first legs for 7–8 April and the return legs for 14–15 April, with all ties kicking off at 21:00 CET and the semi-finals scheduled across 28/29 April and 5/6 May ahead of the final on 30 May at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna. (uefa.com) Barcelona’s Camp Nou fixture saw five different scorers for the hosts — including Marc Bernal, Fermín López and Lamine Yamal — was refereed by France’s François Letexier, and drew an announced attendance of 56,662. (skysports.com) Robert Lewandowski’s milestone of having scored against 41 different Champions League opponents surpasses Lionel Messi’s 40 and Cristiano Ronaldo’s 38, a span achieved across his spells for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. (beinsports.com) The round-of-16 also produced uncommon fallout for English clubs: Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham were all eliminated at this stage, the first time four teams from one nation have exited at the last-16 in Champions League history. (espn.com) Other standout results from the knockout ties included Bayern Munich advancing 10–2 on aggregate over Atalanta and Sporting CP overturning a deficit with a 5–0 extra-time win to set up a quarter-final with Arsenal. (espn.com)
