Yesterday was the end of the 1st leg of the Champions League Quarter finals. Each game ended how some thought while one ended in a way many didn’t think was fair and the game being favored for the other team. Madrid played against Bayern, Sporting played against Arsenal, Barcelona played against Atlético, and PSG played against Liverpool.
Real Madrid hosted Bayern on Tuesday April 7th, in the Santiago Bernabeu, the game ended with Bayern winning 1-2. Luis Diaz opened the scoring with a wonderful goal in the 21st minute, it was later followed by Harry Kane’s stunning goal in the 46th minute in the second half. Kylian Mbappé later scored for Madrid but it wasn’t enough for them to tie the game.
Bayern’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (age 40) played like he was possessed by his younger self, making save after save. In total he made 9 saves, most of them being crucial saves. These saves are also what helped him earn Player of the Match over other super stars.
Sporting hosted Arsenal at home in Lisbon, Portugal in the The Estádio José Alvalade, the game ended 0-1 in favor of Arsenal due to a very late goal by Kai Havertz. The goal game in the 91st minute of the game, meaning the goal happened in extra/injury time. Both teams had a lot of shots but half on target to the goal, they also did defensively well holding each other off from getting the lead the entire time.
Player of the match was the goalkeeper for Arsenal David Raya (age 30), with 5 crucial saves the entirety of the game. Especially a crucial save in the 83rd minute of the game from a header in the near post.
Barcelona hosted Atlético in the Spotify Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain. The game ended in controversy, one reason for the red card given to youngster Pau Cubarsí in the 44th minute, another reason was because the referee (István Kovács)in charge who in previous games for Barcelona had given and also not given very dodgy calls. Due to the terrible refereeing Atlético won against Barcelona 0-2. Later investigations would take place against the referee which ended in him being banned for the rest of the 25-26 Champions league season due to his missed calls but also seeming to show favoritism.
In the end striker Julian Alvarez (age 26) won Player of the Match due to his free kick goal in the 45th minute but also his work rate effort the entire time he played.
PSG hosted Liverpool in the Parc de France in Paris, France. The game ended in a 2-0 win for PSG with a goal in the 11th minute of the game by Désiré Doué with an amazing curler from the inside edge of the goalkeeper box. Later in the second half of the game in the 65th minute of the game Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored a goal with an amazing goal dribbling past the keeper. In the end PSG controlled the game from start to finish with 74% possession.
PSG winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (age 25) won Player of the Match after a dominant showing from his side and from how we played throughout the game.
