The Daily Bee: Bayern Munich and AC Milan in to the Quarter Finals of the Champions League

Good Morning Fear the Wall

Bayern Munich and AC Milan joined Benfica and Chelsea in the quarter finals of the Champions League last night, after they knocked out Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham respectively in their round of 16 ties.

Bayern Munich went into the second leg of their round of 16 tie against PSG with a 1-0 advantage. The second leg was a pretty close affair in the first 60 minutes, but Eric Choup-Moting broke the deadlock, forcing PSG to throw caution to the wind in an attempt to make up the two-goal aggregate deficit. With just a couple minutes left in the game, Serge Gnabry converted a counter-attack that put any remaining doubts to rest. It was yet another disappointing end to the Champions League campaign for PSG, who have assembled a phenomenally expensive team led by a front three of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Neymar, but still struggle to make a real push for the Champions League trophy they covet.

Meanwhile, in London, we got a much cagier affair, as AC Milan held Tottenham to a draw and progressed into the quarter final on the back of the 1-0 lead they held from the first leg of the tie. Despite needing a goal to get themselves back in the game, Spurs were pretty poor, and had a hard time breaking down AC Milan’s impressive defense, only made harder when Christian Romero got himself sent off late on. The two best chances of the game probably came in added time, when Harry Kane came close to scoring from a header, but his effort was saved by Mike Maignan, which led to AC Milan hitting Spurs on the break and Divock Origi hitting the post with his left-footed effort.

It already looked like Antonio Conte would probably leave Tottenham at the end of the season, but with this Champions League exit Spurs’ hopes of winning any trophies this season has come to an end, and it seems certain that Tottenham’s search for a new manager will begin soon (if it hasn’t already).

With AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Benfica, and Chelsea already through to the quarter finals, there are now just four places left in the next round. The second legs of the remaining round-of-16 ties will take place next week. Here’s a quick reminder of how those fixtures stand after the first legs:

Liverpool 2-5 Real Madrid

Frankfurt 0-2 Napoli

RB Leipzig 1-1 Man City

Inter Milan 1-0 Porto

The Links

• If BVB manage to win the Bundesliga title, the team will receive a €6m bonus, which will be shared between the players based on their contributions to the league title.
• Dortmund could be without both Julian Brandt and Marco Reus for the Revierderby.
• The plot thickens regarding the application of the encroachment rule in BVB’s Champions League tie against Chelsea. Apparently the decision was correct if it the referee makes the call, but it’s not something VAR is supposed to make the call.

The Daily Buzz

Do you think Marco Reus’s absence will stop BVB from maintaining their 100% record in the Bundesliga in 2023 on Saturday?