Champions League in the home straight: Villarreal and Benfica surprise in quarter-final draw
It is to Villarreal CF's great credit that they have made it into Europe's top eight. Yesterday in Turin the surprise came. The Levante side beat the all-powerful Juventus 3-0.
A misleading result as Allegri's team dominated the whole match, especially in the first half. But in football, if you don't score chances, you can be eliminated. Just ask Paris Saint Germain who could have won 3-0 in their tie with Real Madrid. They didn't and paid for it in the return leg.
The coach of the Turin team criticised the play of the Spanish team just as Ralf Rangnick, Manchester United's coach, did on Tuesday, referring to the play of Simeone's Atlético de Madrid.
None of them are right, it's the result of impotence. We all know and they know more than anyone else who are professionals that in the world of football, if you miss chances and don't score, it can cost you dearly. And that has happened.
Perhaps Juventus have some argument by clearly dominating the match against Villarreal, but in no case United. In the game at the Wanda Metropolitano Atletico were far superior and deserved more than a draw. At Old Trafford the saviour was Jan Oblak.
It is also well known that a very good goalkeeper at these levels can give you the qualification and even a title. We saw it in Madrid-PSG with Thibaut Courtois and Donnarumma.
Rulli, Villareal's goalkeeper was also magnificent yesterday. Very safe as was his defence captained by Raúl Albiol and Pau Torres.
In the Ajax-Benfica game, there was another surprise thanks to a mistake by the Amsterdam goalkeeper, Andre Onana, who made a bad save at a corner, something that Darwin Núñez took advantage of. Opposing them, Benfica's Greek goalkeeper, Odysseas Vlachodimos, made a great last-minute save to save his team. Once again it was the goalkeeper who decided the outcome of the tie.
Chelsea, after a turbulent few weeks due to their relationship with Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Russia's unjustified and savage invasion of Ukraine, got through the tie with no trouble. Despite a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge, Lille took the lead, but Thomas Tuchel's side did convert the chances they had without playing a good game.
The Salzburg-Bayern Munich and Sporting CP-Manchester City ties were, as expected, very uneven, with both Bayern and City thrashing their opponents.
The Inter-Liverpool game was more evenly matched with chances at both ends, but Liverpool took them in the first leg.
Tomorrow, Friday 18 at 12:00 noon, the quarter-final draw will be made. Pure draw, so teams of the same nationality can already face each other.
The ones everyone wants are Benfica and Villarreal. The favourites are Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City. Chelsea, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid are also very difficult opponents.
The Champions League begins its most exciting phase with the best eight teams this year. Three from the Premier League, three from La Liga, one from Germany and one from Portugal.
