đŽ LIVE: Liverpool take late lead; 10-man Barça take lead; Bayern dominant
The Champions League round of 16 first leg clashes conclude tonight, with four more huge games across the continent.
Follow the action here.
PSG vs Liverpool
Scorers: Elliott 87′
Given the quality of the teams on display, it was little surprise that the opening 15 minutes saw both size each other up, with little in the way of chances.
João Neves had the first, and really should have scored after Ousmane Dembélé put the ball on a plate for him 12 yards out. It was stunning wing play from the red-hot Frenchman, who nutmegged Andy Robertson before finding the Portuguese midfielder, who blazed over.
It was the other superstar wide man, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who thought he had got the opening goal in the 20th minute with a wonderful left-footed curled effort from inside the box. However, VAR ruled there was a slight offside in the build up.
Ibrahima Konaté then had the video officials to thank following a check on a very questionable last man challenge on Bradley Barcola.
Barcola and Dembélé then contrived to not score from three gilt-edged chances, before Kvaratskhelia went close, with a combination of poor finishing, last-ditch defending and Alisson keeping Liverpool on level terms at the break.
The second half started with more of the same, Alisson doing very well to turn away Kvaratskhelia’s free kick.
PSG continued to utterly dominate the ball and the chances, but could not find the killer touch as Liverpool battled on in hope of a miraculous result.
Désiré Doué was the next to put Alisson to work, the PSG substitute forcing another great save from the Brazilian with a lovely curled effort.
Somehow, Liverpool took the lead with three minutes to go with their very first shot on target. Alisson punted the ball long, Darwin NĂșñez took it down, and played it across to Harvey Elliott who side footed it past the arm of Gianluigi Donnarumma.
More to follow…
Benfica vs Barcelona
Scorers: Raphinha 61′
Benfica almost got off to the dream start inside 30 seconds when Kerem AktĂŒrkoÄlu forced Wojciech SzczÄsny into a fine save.
Barça quickly settled, and enjoyed the vast majority of the possession in the opening 20 minutes, however went down to 10 when Pau CubarsĂ was sent off for a failed last man challenge VangĂ©lis PavlĂdis on the edge of the box.
Even with a man fewer, the LaLiga leaders stayed in the game quite easily but again had their Polish keeper to thank for keeping them on level terms, as he saved brilliantly from AktĂŒrkoÄlu just before the break.
Against the odds, Barça took the lead just after the hour, and it was the tormentor of Benfica in January, Raphinha, who was the scorer. Antonio Silva gifted the Brazilian the ball 25 yards out, and he made no mistake with a brilliant left-footed strike.
More to follow…
Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen
Scorers: Kane 9′, , Musiala 54′
Harry Kane gave Bayern the lead inside 10 minutes with a stunning header from Michael Olise’s right-hand side cross. The England captain timed his run perfectly and powered a header into the bottom corner, giving MatÄj KovĂĄĆ no chance.
Leverkusen almost equalised right away after Dayot Upamecano made a mess of things at the back. The French defender had Manuel Neuer to thank for saving his blushes after denying Jeremie Frimpong.
Bayern dominated much of the first half, both in terms of possession and chances, but could not a grab a second before the break.
However, they did shortly into the second half. As in the first half, it came nine minutes after the kick off, and it was simply gifted to them by KovĂĄĆ. The Leverkusen keeper dropped a simple cross from Kimmich, allowing Jamal Musiala to nip in and poke the ball home.
Bayern’s own keeper, Neuer, was forced off shortly after with an unspecified injury, replaced by Jonas Urbig for his club debut.
Things went from bad to worse for Xabi Alonso’s side in the 62nd minute when Nordi Mukiele was given a second yellow for a foolish tackle on Kingsley Coman.
Their collapse continued with the concession of a penalty from Edmond Tapsoba, who pulled Kane down inside the box. The striker dusted himself down to confidently put his side 3-0 to the good.
More to follow…
Later
Inter reign in Rotterdam
Scorers: Thuram 38′, MartĂnez 50′
Inter Milan have more than one foot in the quarter-finals after a 2-0 win away to a determined Feyenoord side.
Inside a bearpit of noise at the De Kuip, the game got off to an even start with both sides having decent openings without ever truly looking like scoring.
Given the injuries to his side, new Feyenoord boss Robin van Perise would have been delighted at how his charges nullified the Italian giants for large parts of the first half, with Lautoro MartĂnez and Marcus Thuram feeding on scraps up front.
However, it was not to last with two goals either side of the break giving his side a mountain to climb.
It was 37-year-old defender Francesco Acerbi who had Inter’s first shot on target just past the half hour mark, getting into the box and testing Timon Wellenreuther with a left-footed drive.
Simone Inzaghi’s side then scored with their second shortly after, and it was a brilliant goal. Former PSV man Denzel Dumfries got the ball on the right, passed it back to NicolĂČ Barella, whose excellent cross was met with an equally top class acrobatic finish from Thuram.
The hosts had Wellenreuther to thank for keeping it to 1-0 at the break, with the keeper making a fine save from Kristjan Asllani’s dangerous free kick right before the referee blew his whistle.
It was two just five minutes into the second half, with MartĂnez joining his strike partner on the scoresheet with another fine finish. Alessandro Bastoni cut in on the left and played it to Piotr ZieliĆski, whose shot was blocked into the path of the Argentinian, who made no mistake with a ruthless strike.
ZieliĆski then wasted a great chance to put the tie to bed from the spot after Thuram was taken down. In fairness to the Polish midfielder, Wellenreuther did extremely well to get down and turn his low shot away.
It mattered little as the Italians held out to near-book their passage into the last eight. Having now conceded only once in nine Champions League games this season, Feyenoord require a miracle next week in the San Siro.
đž FRANCK FIFE – AFP or licensors
