Vinicius Jr. scored a fantastic brace as Real Madrid eased past Manchester City 2-1 and dumped Pep Guardiola’s team out of the UEFA Champions League. Arsenal reached the quarterfinals of the competition after they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at home and won the tie 3-1 on aggregate. Bodo/Glimt’s fairytale run in the Champions League came to an end as Sporting Lisbon thrashed them 5-0 after extra-time to complete a 5-3 aggregate win.
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain piled on the misery on Liam Rosenoir and Chelsea as they beat the Blues 3-0 to record an 8-2 aggregate win and move to the quarterfinals. The spotlight on Tuesday, March 17, was firmly on Vinicius and Los Blancos, who eliminated City from the competition for the third consecutive season.
The Brazilian put Madrid in front from the spot after Bernardo Silva was deemed to have handled the ball inside his own box. This also meant that the home side were reduced to 10 men. Vini jr. got a measure of revenge against the City fans as he celebrated with a crying gesture. In 2024, the City fans unveiled a banner telling the Brazilian to stop crying after Rodri won the Ballon d’Or.
“The last time we came here, the Manchester City fans (who put up a banner that read ‘Stop crying’ after Rodri won the 2024 Ballon d’Or ahead of the Brazilian) were making fun of me,” Vinicius said. “I wasn’t disrespecting City fans but it was a way for me to prove myself to them.”
But City weren’t ready to give up without a fight. Erling Haaland levelled the score in the 41st minute, but the tie was heavily in favour of Alvaro Arbeloa’s men, who had won their home leg tie 3-0. Second-half drama saw goals from Manchester City duo Jeremy Doku and Rayan Ait-Nouri, along with Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde and Vinicius Jr, all ruled out. However, Vinicius had the final say, striking from close range in the 93rd minute to seal his brace.
ARSENAL, PSG PROGRESS
Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze opened his UCL account for the Gunners with a sensational goal as Mikel Arteta’s men reached the quarter-finals with ease. Bayer Leverkusen managed to hold firm through an intense opening spell from Arsenal, with goalkeeper Janis Blaswich putting in a superb display. But their resistance was broken in the 37th minute when Eze fired in a stunning long-range effort, giving Arsenal the upper hand in a tricky last-16 clash.
Declan Rice made it 2-0 just past the hour mark as Leverkusen failed to find momentum for a comeback. PSG humbled Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to lay down the marker that they’re still the team to beat in the competition.
Chelsea’s defensive frailties were once again exposed as Bradley Barcola caught them on a counter and made it 2-0 in the 15th minute. Senny Mayulu put the Blues out of their misery in the 62nd minute as Chelsea struggled to make the most of their chances.
Sporting pulled one of the greatest comebacks in UCL history to become the fourth team on Tuesday to seal their final 8 spot. Chasing the game, the Portuguese side attacked from the get-go.
The away side rattled the crossbar before the break, but Sporting responded after halftime as Pedro Goncalves finished off Luis Suarez’s delivery in the 61st minute. Suarez then drew them level from the spot in the 78th following a VAR handball decision.
Sporting wasted little time in extra time, with Maxi Araujo finding the net within two minutes, before substitute Rafael Nel added another in stoppage time to seal progression for the defending Portuguese champions.
