Real Madrid are out of the Champions League after being beaten by Arsenal at the Santiago Bernabeu, losing their quarter final 5-1 on aggregate.
After Arsenal stunned Los Blancos at the Emirates, taking a 3-0 lead, they had the measure of Carlo Ancelotti’s team again and had a relatively comfortable night in Spain as they deservedly earned a semi-final clash with Pars Saint-Germain.
The first half at the Santiago Bernabeu was a tale of penalty controversy as both sides were awarded a spot-kick and went into the half time break at 0-0. First the stadium went quiet when VAR spotted a pulled shirt, when Marco Ascensio had hold of Mikel Merino. Bukayo Saka stepped up and, for reasons best known to himself, he tried a Panenka and Thibaut Courtois saved easily.
It looked like the Gunners would pay the penalty for Saka’s miss when the referee pointed to the spot at the other end of the pitch after Kylian Mbappe fell under a challenge from Declan Rice. It looked terribly soft as the France star clearly played for the penalty and this time VAR intervened to call the ref to the video screen, and he changed his mind.
Saka earned his redemption when he latched on to a Merino through ball and chipped Courtois, and the Gunners were on their way to the semi-finals. Their celebrations were temporarily cut short when Vinicius Junior robbed William Saliba and fired the ball home for 1-1 but Gabriel Martinelli capped off a perfect night for Arsenal with an injury time winner.
In other Champions League 2025 news, Inter Milan made it through to the semi-finals for a date with Barcelona as they saw off Bayern Munich, 4-3 on aggregate after the two sides played out a 2-2 draw in Milan. After a goalless first half the second leg exploded into life as two of the world’s leading strikers made their marks. Bayern struck first when Leon Goretzka fed Harry Kane and the England man fired a lethal shot low into the corner to level the tie. Either side of Kane’s strike I Nerazzurri had twice come close, through Federico Dimarco and Marcus Thuram. But the hosts were soon level on the night and ahead overall when Lautaro Martinez met a corner and finished clinically into the bottom corner.
That goal was on 58 minutes and three later the hosts were ahead, and this time it was wingback Benjamin Pavard meeting a corner from Hakan Calhanoglu and he planted his header home for 2-1. Inter looked home and hosed but Bayern had other plans and, with 15 minutes to play, Eric Dier headed home from a Serge Gnabry corner. But the Italians held out and Bayern Munich join Real Madrid out of the competition.
Guirassy restores pride to Dortmund
After taking a 4-0 thumping in Catalonia there was very little for Borussia Dortmund to play for in their second leg tie against Barcelona, apart from pride. And the Guinean striker certainly restored some of that with a man-of-the match performance and a devastating display of attacking with a well taken hat-trick. He moved on to 13 goals as the tournament top scorer; though with Barca’s Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski lurking on 12 goals and 11, it seems doubtful Guirassy will win Golden Boot outright.
Dortmund’s star striker had missed some chances in the first leg but he made no mistake when he had a penalty opportunity on 11 minutes after Barca keeper Wojciech Szczesny had fouled Pascal Gross. Just after half time Guirassy headed home a second to briefly bring the tie alive, until Ramy Bensebaini put through his own net. As the clock ran down Guirassy took advantage of slack Ronald Araujo defending to rifle home an unstoppable third.
As BVB exacted some revenge, for what use that is, Barcelona boss Hansi Flick was not amused; but he had rested key players Inigo Martinez and Pedri in preparation for a crunch La Liga clash with Celta Vigo on Saturday, a match we’re previewing here at SBOTOP. And, while the Blaugrana are favourites to win the Primera Division, the Champions League 2025 betting odds say the Catalans are also the team to beat to the European crown.
Villa push PSG to the limit
Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain have played some of the finest football in the Champions League this season and they were at their best to beat Aston Villa 3-1 in their first leg at the Parc des Princes. Villa had an uphill battle to keep their Champions League dream alive and they responded quite magnificently, even after Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes scored early on to silence Villa Park and move the Parisiens 5-1 ahead on aggregate.
But Villa have been in superb form recently and they roared back, as Youri Tielemens halved the deficit before the half time break. Two goals in three minutes early in the second half, courtesy of John McGinn and Ezra Konsa, lifted the roof off the stadium and gave the Villans over half an hour to level the tie. But PSG held out to book their place in the semi-finals. And while the French giants have already won Ligue 1, Unai Emery’s Villa are right in the hunt for a top five place in the Premier League and this display won’t have done them any harm at all.
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