Champions League shocks
Big quarterfinals moves: Barcelona won 4-2 away at Slavia Praha and Liverpool routed Marseille 3-0 as several European heavyweights advanced to the semis — official semifinal dates are set for late April/early May. Bayern beat Union Saint-Gilloise 2-0, Juventus beat Benfica 2-0, Newcastle thumped PSV 3-0, Chelsea edged Pafos 1-0, and Athletic Club narrowly beat Atalanta 3-2 — the draw leaves clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern, PSG, Arsenal and Atlético still very much in the hunt. (uefa.com) (vanguardia.com)
UEFA has published the knockout timetable: quarter-final first legs on 7-8 April and second legs on 14-15 April, with semi-final first legs on 28-29 April and second legs on 5-6 May, and the final at Budapest’s Puskás Aréna on 30 May. (uefa.com)) The quarter-final pairings are set as Sporting CP vs Arsenal and Real Madrid vs Bayern on 7 April, and Barcelona vs Atlético and Paris vs Liverpool on 8 April, with the corresponding return legs on 14-15 April. (uefa.com)) Barcelona’s 4-2 away win at Slavia Prague featured a brace from Fermín López and a goal from Robert Lewandowski, with Lewandowski also involved in an own-goal incident earlier in the match. (beinsports.com)) Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Marseille saw Dominik Szoboszlai open the scoring and Cody Gakpo add a late goal, with an own goal by Gerónimo Rulli completing the margin. (espn.com)) Earlier knockout-phase wins that shaped the quarter-final field included Bayern’s 2-0 victory over Union Saint-Gilloise (Harry Kane scored twice), Juventus’s 2-0 win over Benfica, Newcastle’s 3-0 win over PSV, Chelsea’s 1-0 victory courtesy of Moisés Caicedo, and Athletic Club’s 3-2 comeback at Atalanta with goals from Gorka Guruzeta, Nico Serrano and Robert Navarro. (espn.com)) Form from the round of 16 underlines the favourites: Barcelona progressed after a 7-2 second-leg win over Newcastle to make it 8-3 on aggregate, Bayern routed Atalanta to finish 10-2 on aggregate, and Real Madrid beat Manchester City 5-1 over two legs. (uefa.com))
