The 2nd leg of the Champions league brought even more drama and shock this season.
Chelsea and Paris St.Germain move forward towards the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Drama At Seville
Chelsea comfortably went into the 2nd leg after winning 2-0 over their Portuguese counter-parts Porto in the 1st leg.
ft. WE'RE THROUGH TO THE #UCL SEMI-FINALS! #CHEPOR pic.twitter.com/EmX9uf7377
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 13, 2021
The Blues fielded their strongest lineup. Thiago Silva returned to the starting lineup as well as Ngolo Kante. The manager, however, wasn’t sure if Ngolo would play all 90 minutes of the game.
The game started with Porto dominating right off the bat. Chelsea under Tuchel has improved defensively, which they showed this game.
The first chance came for the away side (Porto) after Edouard Mendy mistakenly passed the ball to Jesus Corona, who decided to shot the ball.
However, Jorginho came to Chelsea’s rescue with a block, which sent the ball out of the ground.
This game saw more fouls than any other games this season. In a total of 95 minutes played, both of the teams had a total of 28 fouls in total.
Chelsea’s dominated the possession but couldn’t produce a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes of the game.
Ngolo Kante played exactly why he is the world’s best CDM and is irreplaceable in this Chelsea team.
Chelsea was already leading the game via aggregate goal, so all they needed was to defend their advantage and attack on counters.
Porto’s solid defensive partnership of Pepe and Mbemba proved a little difficult for the Blues’ attackers.
Christian Pulisic became the only player to have been fouled the most in this game.
Porto brought in more attackers in the second half but could not pass The Blues’ defense of Azpilicueta, Silva, and Rudiger.
The trio proved to be vital for the protection of Chelsea’s lead.
Porto, however, got the last laugh at the game. Mehdi Taremi scored an insane volley on the 93rd minute of the game.
.@ChampionsLeague | @ChelseaFC 0-1 @FCPorto | GOLO!
TAREMIIII 😱 MAGIA, ARTE! Não há palavras!!! #ChampionsELEVEN pic.twitter.com/LxyrjMOxrc
— ELEVEN Portugal (@ElevenSports_PT) April 13, 2021
This goal gave Porto the lead in the match, but it wasn’t enough to beat Chelsea.
With this, Chelsea goes through with a 2-1 scoreline towards the Semi-Finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2014.
𝗨𝗣 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗦. 🔵#CHEPOR pic.twitter.com/tf803AXL0a
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 13, 2021
Bayern Triumphs But Paris Go Through
Paris St.Germain hosted Bayern Munich at the Parc De Princes for the 2nd leg of the Champions League Quarter-Finals.
🔴🔵 Paris = semi-finalists! 🎉#UCL pic.twitter.com/UivIdpdvG2
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2021
The hosts fielded the same lineup as the first leg, while Bayern Munich was forced to make changes due to their ongoing injuries.
Leon Goretzka, Niklas Sule, Serge Gnabry and Robert Lewandowski missed out for the 2nd leg.
The players that Bayern miss were the most important parts of Hansi Flick’s game plan.
Both sides started the game with equal importance and intensity.
The first chance for a goal came for the hosts.
Kylian Mbappe, although he looked offside, received the ball from Neymar towards the right-wing and hit a low shot towards the face of the goals. Due to the angle being tight, it wasn’t much of a chance.
Kylian Mbappé. Unstoppable❓#UCL pic.twitter.com/Oh3nUBoYqN
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2021
Bayern dominated PSG just like the first leg. Both of the wing-backs for the Germans had a lot of touches in the final third.
In the 9th minute, Leroy Sane cut inside from the right and passed three players, and crossed the ball for Kingsley Coman. The cross was so poor that PSG eventually cleared the ball.
However, for a split second, Kimmich took the ball and crossed towards the penalty box to find Thomas Mueller. Thomas tried to find Choupo-Moting with a back-header but was stopped by Navas.
As soon as Navas stopped the ball, PSG countered, and Mbappe scorched past Pavard and passed the ball towards Neymar. His shot was, however, saved by Manuel Neuer.
Mauricio Pochettino had feared that Bayern would dominate more and press with higher intensity, but his fear wasn’t activated.
The first major chance fell in the hands of the Germans.
Keylor Navas saved David Alaba’s low shot, but the keeper could only spoon the ball up in the air. The first player to react was Choup-Moting.
The striker muscled Kimpembe and headed the ball into the net from a close range.
GOAL! Paris 0-1 Bayern (Choupo-Moting 40').
AGG: 3-3#UCL pic.twitter.com/PZlVSG6kv5— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2021
Keylor Navas, who was the hero for PSG in the first leg, made one of his worst mistakes.
Bayern took the match 1-0 and tied the game 3-3 on aggregate. This, however, wasn’t enough for the win.
The Germans needed at least another goal if they wanted to progress towards defending their championship.
Alas, Bayern couldn’t muster up enough clinical and finishes to their shots. The game ended 1-0 for the Germans.
Also Read: Serge Gnabry’s Bio, Life Stats
This meant PSG went through towards the semi-finals of the Champions League based on away goals rules.
🔴🔵 Paris knock out Holders Bayern on away goals…
New favourites for the 🏆❓#UCL
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 13, 2021
With this result, we are sure to crown a new “KINGS OF EUROPE” this season.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THESE TEAMS?
Chelsea progressed to the Champions League’s semi-finals for the first time since 2014 and will now face either Liverpool or Real Madrid in the tie.
If Liverpool makes a comeback against Madrid, then two of England’s best clubs will face each other to bring pride and CUP back to England.
However, if Real Madrid does beat Liverpool, then that would be the first time these two clubs will meet in the European competitions after 20+ years.
Whatever happens between Liverpool and Madrid, the semi-finals will bring more excitement for the fans.
As for PSG, they will either face Borussia Dortmund or Manchester City in their semi-finals.
ManCity is currently leading 2-1 against BVB and is looking forward to the opportunity to earn the Quadruple this season.
If PSG faced City in the semis, the fans would witness a match between the “Oil-Money” clubs.
If PSG faces BVB, then the Germans would look for revenge against the French for their loss in the previous season.
