Mohammed Salah does not have a good night as Real Madrid reach semi-finals
The Egyptian striker missed the clearest chances in the match between Liverpool and Real Madrid. The English team came out in a flurry, as expected, to come back from 3-1 down in the first leg. As a result, the Anfield side had several chances to score.
From the start, Jürgen Klopp's players showed great intensity, sometimes violence, as in the case of Milner's tackle on Benzema, which left the French striker with a weakened position for the whole game. But Madrid did not shrink back and Casemiro also showed that they were not going to be intimidated. Valverde's solution at right-back worked well for Zidane. At first, in a couple of moves, Mané overrun the Uruguayan, but he didn't break down and ended up having a great game. Odriozola when he came on generated mistrust later on.
Madrid's midfield looked more tired than usual and lost control of the ball most of the game. The Barcelona game on Saturday had a lot of physical wear and tear on the team and it showed.
They made up for it with a great defence that left almost no gaps. Nacho and Militao were perfect and the controversy of the central defenders at Real Madrid has grown with the renewal of Ramos, the possible departure of Varane and the arrival of Alaba.
The German coach was clear that Vinicius would not be able to have the space he had in the first leg to destroy the English defence and he had the Brazilian under special surveillance by two players. Asensio, who is still not back to his best, was not able to take advantage of this and is a clear candidate to leave his place to Hazard when he returns. It would not be fair for the Brazilian to go to the bench. Vinicius understood his role very well in this match and made a great defensive effort.
Real Madrid had two clear chances to score, one in the first half with Benzema sending the rebound back off the post and another from Vinicius in the second half to seal the tie, but the Brazilian's control with his head went a little wide and his compatriot Alisson saved well from the Brazilian striker.
For his part, Courtois was also outstanding. In the first half he saved with his feet a clear chance from Salah early in the game and a placed shot from Milner that the Belgian keeper turned behind for a corner. In the second half he also stood up well to a very strong Firmino shot.
The English team had several chances with shots inside the box, but they missed the target, especially Salah's left-footed half-volley that the Egyptian sent over Courtois' goal. Mané was the most active and influential player and Wijnaldum also contributed a number of attacking touches.
Real Madrid controlled the game well, crouching deep in their own half and coming out on the counter, albeit rarely. The Real Madrid fans were not at ease until the final whistle.
On Tuesday, PSG and Bayern Munich again played some great football. The French team on the counter, with Mbappé, Di Maria and especially Neymar, could have sealed the tie. The Brazilian player sent two balls against the woodwork. They did not have the same success as in the first leg. But neither did Bayern. They dominated, but the few chances they did have were thwarted by a great Keylor Navas. Choupo Moting's goal at the end of the first half made it very exciting until the end of the game.
A great play by Sané at the end of the game could have turned the tie in Germany's favour. The loss of Lewandowski has weighed heavily on Bayern and one of the best teams in Europe is out of the Champions League.
Guardiola's Manchester City struggled more than expected. A Bellingham goal after 15 minutes woke City up. But they could not equalise. Only a De Bruyne shot against the crossbar came close to doing so. In the second half, an absurd penalty by Emre Can was converted by Mahrez to level the match. Later, from a corner, Foden took advantage of a German mistake to score the second goal in the 75th minute with a strong shot and the help of the German goalkeeper to give them peace of mind.
Porto managed to keep a clean sheet and Chelsea had few chances, but they did not put the English team in serious trouble either. The big moment of the match came in stoppage time. Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi took advantage of a cross from the right to fire a spectacular bicycle kick into the top corner of Mendy's goal. But there was no time for more and the tie went in favour of the Londoners.
Upcoming matches:
IDA:
27 April PSG v Manchester City
28 April Real Madrid - Chelsea
RETURN:
4 May Chelsea - Real Madrid
5 May Manchester City - PSG
