Champions League Quarter Finals A Few Quick Thoughts
Dan Tracey
April 13, 2017
1,881 Views
- Premier League Champions Leicester may well feel aggrieved in the manner in which they lost to Atletico Madrid last night with only a one goal deficit to overturn they are by no means out of this Quarter Final tie
- Marc Albrighton’s somewhat clumsy tackle on Antoine Griezmann was adjudged to have been in the penalty area and although replays were somewhat inconclusive it gave Griezmann the perfect opportunity to put the home side ahead
- It was one that the French international took full advantage of as he placed his spot kick past Kasper Schmeichel and gave Atletico the advantage
- Previous to that Diego Simeone’s side were limited to just pot shots and although Koke hit the woodwork early on, Leicester were not all that troubled
- With Leicester behind they had to work for what chances that were presented to them but unfortunately Craig Shakespeare’s men rarely threatened
- Shakespeare felt that the referee guessed the decision to award the spot kick
- It was one of those that situations were the foul started outside the box and finished inside it
- Whether you give the foul from the original contact or the point of landing can be argued
- A clever move by Griezmann though to fall in the box as in doing that he makes up the referee’s mind
- A defeat for Leicester but they will take some solice at the fact that they are still very much in the tie but an all important goal would have been a massive boost
- Still no need to write them off just yet
- Champions League Holders Real Madrid came from behind at The Allianz Arena to put themselves in commanding position in their tie with Bayern Munich
- But the story could and should have been a lot different
- Carlo Ancelotti’s men looked comfortable in the first half and deservedly took the lead through Arturo Vidal
- But Vidal went from hero to villain soon after
- After missing a close range header to make it 2-0 he would then go on to waste an ever easier opportunity to double Bayern’s advantage from the spot
- Vidal blazed a penalty high over the bar and you get the feeling that could very well be the turning the point of the tie
- Real Madrid came out much brighter in the second half and who else but Cristiano Ronaldo was on hand to level the score soon after the restart
- Bayern’s night would be turned on its head with the sending off of Javi Martinez and the question then was whether or not they could hold out with 10 men and still just under half an hour left to play
- The answer to that was no
- Ronaldo was once again on hand to put Real ahead and put them in the driving seat for The Bernabeu return leg next week
- Real thought they had made it 3-1 late on but Sergio Ramos’ header was disallowed for offside
- Zinedine Zidane the student upstages Carlo Ancelotti the teacher
- An uphill task for Bayern to make the Champions League Semi Finals
- After their game was postponed due to the explosions triggered near the Borussia Dortmund coach, the game between themselves and Monaco took place yesterday afternoon and it’s Monaco who have the first leg advantage
- Dortmund who perhaps were blighted by the goings on the night before were masters of their own downfall
- They were unfortunate to see Monaco’s opener allowed to stand even though it was offside
- And things would go from bad to worse when Sven Bender headed into his own net to make it 2-0 to Monaco
- Dortmund looked livelier in the second half and would soon half the deficit thanks to Ousmane Dembele
- But a defensive blunder would see Kylian Mbappe add to his already impressive tally of goals to make it 3-1 on the night
- Dortmund gave themselves some hope when Shinji Kagawa clawed it back to 3-2 but they will have their work cut out if they are to make it to the semi finals
- The same will be said about Barcelona after their 3-0 defeat in Turin on Tuesday night
- Pablo Dybala is the hero of the night as it was his brace that put Juventus in a commanding position while Giorgio Chiellini made it 3 in the second half
- Juventus managed to exact revenge for their 2015 final defeat and should they move on to the Champions League Semi Finals will have to be considered serious contenders for the final this time around
- As for Barcelona they have already had to perform one dramatic comeback this season, they are now going to have to do another
- Luis Enrique’s hopes of bowing out with a second Champions League win in three years is looking unlikely but with this side never say never
- Credit has to go to Gigi Buffon as his brilliant first half save from Lionel Messi means Barcelona failed to get a vital away goal
- It also means that Messi has still never scored past Buffon – he will have to put that right in the second leg if they are to have any chance of progressing
- Barcelona’s midfield looks like it cannot keep up with the pace of the attack line
- Andre Gomes and Ivan Rakitic are not bad players but are they up to the required standard
- While Andres Iniesta rapid decline from a very heady height is slightly saddening to see
- A side like Juventus should not be giving up 3 goals at The Nou Camp they have more than one foot in the semi finals and will look to complete the job next week
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