With the completion of the all the Champions League quarter final second leg games this week, there was a lot of hype and buzz following the results and what transpired. It was a very thrilling week of soccer, and ended with some very surprising results.
In the first match up, Paris St. Germain against Chelsea, Chelsea barely squeaked by and into the semi-finals. They were down 3-1 on aggregate after the first leg, and needed to win 2-0 in order to advance. It was an intense game and when Chelsea's best player went off in the 15th minute with a leg injury, the task looked daunting. Never fear though, Andre Schurrle came on and scored almost instantly to give some hope to the home team. This game came right down to the closing stages. Just as everyone thought all chances of winning were gone, Demba Ba scored in the 89th minute to send Chelsea into the next round.
The second match, Real Madrid against Borussia Dortmund, was another nail biter of a game. Real Madrid had won the previous game 3-0 at home and all they needed to do was hold of a Borussia Dortmund team that had been plagued by injuries, and wasn't even playing their best players. In what was almost the comeback of the century, Marco Reus scored two goals for Dortmund in the first half, making the aggregate 3-2 in favor of Real Madrid. Unfortunately the comeback couldn't be completed as Real Madrid held on by a sliver to escape into the semis.
The third game was played yesterday and it featured Manchester United against Bayern Munich. In this game Manchester United were the heavy underdogs from the very beginning and that's why everyone was surprised that they managed to get a 1-1 tie in the first leg at home. They had their backs up against the wall though, as they had to play at the Allianz Arena. United shocked everyone when they scored in the second half to take a 1-0 lead, which would have sent them through, but Bayern responded just 22 seconds later to tie it at 1-1. Then, 2 minutes after that Thomas Muller sealed the deal with another goal, and later on Arjen Robben put the icing on the cake when he put Bayern up 3-1 and into the semi-finals.
The fourth, and final game was probably the biggest upset of the entire tournament. FC Barcelona, the heavy favorite, had tied Athletico Madrid, their Spanish rivals at home in their previous game, but was looking for revenge in this final game. In just the fifth minute, Koke scored for Athletico, and that goal would see them into the Semi-finals. Athletico completely outplayed Barcelona and deserved to win for sure. This is the first time ever that Athletico Madrid has made it to the UEFA Champions League Semi-final, and for the past 5 years, the team that knocks out Barcelona has gone on to win the entire tournament. Lets see if Athletico has what it takes!
So that wraps up what has been a very exciting two weeks of UEFA Champions League quarter-final action. As the fans, we can only hope that the Semis carry as much action and great soccer as we've seen so far. The draw to see who will play each other will be taking place this Friday, so make sure to tune in for that.
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