Tuesday night’s menu to celebrate the return of the Champions League has already created quite an appetite just by looking at the clubs taking to the pitch. On the one hand, the madrileños, who are the “owners and masters” of the “eaglehood” against the winners of the last edition; in the other match, the Bavarian power against the executioner Porto in the 1/8 finals.
Real Madrid v Manchester City and Arsenal v Bayern ended in draws, but there was no shortage of excitement, quite the contrary. Both matches were controversial until the final moments.
The Portuguese on one side and the Portuguese holiday on the other.
The Santiago Bernabeu was packed to host one of the most anticipated matches of the stage, a true “early final” that lived up to the recent history of great games between Real Madrid and Manchester City.
With Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias on the field, the visitors almost started to win thanks to an early goal from the Portuguese forward in the second minute of the match. The English number 20 took a free kick from afar and caught the opposing goalkeeper by surprise, who did not manage to reach the ball in time.
Real Madrid’s reaction, accustomed to comebacks, was swift and once again they had a Portuguese player in the lineup. Frenchman Camavinga’s shot from outside the penalty area hit Ruben Dias and gave away Ortega. The connection was made and assembly did not take long.
Brazilian Rodrigo was released by compatriot Vinicius and accelerated to score the Whites’ second goal in the 14th minute. The striker celebrated the goal with a gesture typical of the tournament’s top scorer… Cristiano Ronaldo.
The second half was dominated by some superb goals that left the Bernabeu on edge. In just a few minutes, City scored two goals. Foden first scored with an unprotected strike. Guardiol wanted to continue his teammate’s legacy and scored England’s third goal from outside the penalty area.
As we’ve become accustomed to, Real Madrid didn’t let the curtain fall without showing off one last graceful look. Valverde fired home for the first time to equalize again, setting up the final result in the 78th minute.
The English and the Bavarians in a thrilling reunion
Like the game in the Spanish capital, the meeting in London was full of excitement right up to the final whistle.
Arsenal, having eliminated Porto in the last round of the Champions League, were hungry for revenge in their last matches against Bayer Leverkusen in the tournament. Among the last three Champions League games between the two teams, the Germans won three with a score of 5:1.
The Londoners started better and seemed determined to reverse their recent fortunes. Saka scored in the 12th minute.
But before the break, Bayern Munich still managed to score two goals. Gnabry scored for the first time in the 18th minute, and 13 minutes before the break it was the turn of an old Arsenal acquaintance to score. Kane, a former player for the Gunners’ London rivals Tottenham, converted the penalty.
In the second half, one of the Portuguese came into the lineup – Raphael Guerreiro, who plays for Bayern Munich. Fabio Vieira did not play in Arteta’s team.
As the Portuguese came on, Arsenal reduced the lead through Trossard in the 76th minute.
The Champions League returns on Wednesday with a game in Madrid between Atlético Madrid and Dortmund and a meeting in Paris between PSG and Barcelona.
The second leg of Tuesday’s games will take place on April 17.
Author: morning Post
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.