Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal (1-5 agg):
It more than lived up to pre-match hype.
Arsenal on Wednesday, April 16, completed a 5-1 aggregate win over holders Real Madrid to end their 16-year wait for a Champions League semi-final appearance, Bukayo Saka recovering from having an early penalty saved to put the visitors on their way to a confident victory.
While Arsenal named an unchanged side from their 3-0 first-leg win in London, Madrid restored Aurélien Tchouaméni after a ban – replacing the suspended Eduardo Camavinga – and brought in Lucas Vázquez for Luka Modrić, allowing Federico Valverde to advance to midfield.
If the visitors’ selection reflected a desire to continue where they left off, their bright start answered that wish.
Key creative presence Bukayo Saka proved their greatest threat, arrowing a fierce shot wide before forcing Thibaut Courtois to beat his drive from distance away.
Saka’s best chance of the half would arrive shortly afterwards when Raúl Asencio was adjudged to have impeded Mikel Merino inside the penalty area, only for Courtois to turn the England international’s chipped penalty behind and revive the chants of belief emanating from home fans who had been used to seeing their side secure sensational comebacks in the competition.
Canny Arsenal stopped Madrid from producing an attempt on target during the first half, testing Courtois again with the break approaching when Rice – scorer of two superb free-kicks during the first leg – fed Gabriel Martinelli inside the box on the left, the recipient responding with a powerful shot that stung the No1’s palms at his near post.
The holders made David Raya make a save when Vinícius Júnior curled a strike into the goalkeeper’s arms but Arsenal’s continuing comfort level tempted Los Blancos manager Carlo Ancelotti to enact a triple substitution, including the introduction of 18-year-old striker Endrick.
Four minutes later, Arsenal had their fourth goal of the tie and Saka a measure of redemption courtesy of a slick move started by the forward, who set off inside the penalty area to collect Mikel Merino’s pass and chip a composed finish beyond Courtois following a beautiful exchange between Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard.
The hosts replied swiftly, Vinícius Júnior winning possession from William Saliba on the edge of the penalty area and hooking the ball past Raya, but Arsenal were rarely troubled during the closing stages, with Rice orchestrating play in midfield and Ødegaard stinging Courtois’ palms during added time.
Their triumph finished with a flourish, Martinelli finding the far corner of the net with a side-footed finish after Merino sent the forward clear as part of a rapid counterattack.
PlayStation Player of the Match: Declan Rice (Arsenal)
“The midfielder was the key player and a leader on the pitch, really helping his team defensively and using the ball with immense accuracy” -UEFA Technical Observer Group.
Inter 2-2 Bayern (agg: 4-3): Nerazzurri Hold On To Seal Semi-final Place
Goals from Lautaro Martínez and former Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard helped Inter reach the last four for the second time in three seasons despite some fierce late pressure from the German side.
Both teams kept faith with the majority of their starting line-ups from the first leg, with Thomas Müller, scorer of the equaliser in Munich, restored to the Bayern side and Federico Dimarco making his return from injury, and both were heavily involved in the opening exchanges.
Müller forced the first save six minutes in with a skidding drive following a neat turn on the edge of the area after collecting Michael Olise’s pass, while Dimarco was unable to add the finish to a sweeping move from the hosts, drilling his low effort straight at Jonas Urbig.
The 35-year-old Müller was in the thick of the action again as Bayern aimed to breach a Nerazzurri defence that had conceded just once on home soil in this season’s competition, the visitors stepping up the pressure following a Hakan Çalhanoğlu curler that flew narrowly wide.
A Joshua Kimmich volley and an acrobatic Leroy Sané strike were both claimed by Yann Sommer late in the first half, the Swiss international aiming for an eighth clean sheet in the Champions League this term.
Harry Kane had other ideas soon after the interval, and pulled his side level in the tie when steering a precise finish into the far corner from the right of the area when it appeared the hosts’ back line had all angles covered.
However, the Serie A leaders hit back with two goals in the space of four minutes either side of the hour, captain Lautaro Martínez instigating the fightback with a powerful, opportunistic finish after the visitors were unable to clear following a corner.
With Simone Inzaghi’s men in the ascendancy, the 2009/10 winners made the most of another set piece when former Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard timed his leap perfectly to meet Çalhanoğlu’s outswinging delivery from the right and plant a fierce header high into the net.
The Bundesliga leaders surged forward in the final 15 minutes and set up a nervy finish from a well-worked dead-ball routine themselves, Eric Dier somehow finding the net with a looping header from a tight angle after a pinpoint delivery from substitute Serge Gnabry.
Bayern pushed for the goal that would have forced extra time and almost capitalised on some hesitation in the home defence with added time approaching, but Kane could only hook a half-volley over.
Müller and Kingsley Coman both came close to levelling on aggregate as time ticked down, but Inter held out to seal a semi-final place and set up a repeat of the 2009/10 semi-final against Barcelona, dashing the Munich outfit’s hopes of reaching the final on home soil in the process.
PlayStation Player of the Match: Lautaro Martínez (Inter)
“For his important goal, clever movement, his understanding with strike partner Thuram and others, as well as his hard work for the team” -UEFA Technical Observer Group.
