Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain instantly dashed hopes of an epic upset by Manchester City and Chelsea in the Champions League on Tuesday. Instead, it was the diminutive Bodo/Glimt who fought back in the historic second leg of the Round of 16.
Madrid held on to their three-goal lead from the first leg with a 2-1 win over City, helped by an early red card for City captain Bernardo Silva, and went on to win 5-1 on aggregate, with defending champions PSG scoring twice in the first 14 minutes to beat Chelsea 3-0. This resulted in a total victory of 8-2.
Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt, located in a fishing town of about 55,000 people north of the Arctic Circle, also led 3-0 in the first leg, but lost to Sporting Lisbon 5-0 in extra time.
There has only been one bigger comeback in the Champions League, the famous ‘remontada’ between Barcelona and PSG in 2016-17.
Sporting’s reward is a quarter-final match against Arsenal. Arsenal kept their hopes of winning a quadruple title this season alive with a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen and a 3-1 aggregate victory.
Red card for damages, bid to return to City
Madrid eliminated City from the Champions League for the fourth time in the last five years, but the match was effectively over when Silva was shown a red card in the 20th minute after a video review for elbowing the goal line in an attempt to block Vinicius’ shot.
The Brazilian star sank a penalty to give Madrid a four-goal cushion and then scored a close-range finish in stoppage time to seal victory for the record 15-time European champions on the night.
Erling Haaland equalized in the 41st minute for City, who created enough chances to get the goal they needed even with 10 men.
Kylian Mbappé entered the game midway through the second half, making his return after being out injured for about a month. Madrid hope the French striker will remain injury-free until the quarter-finals against Bayern Munich or Atalanta. Bayern led 6-1 from the first leg.
PSG get some belated revenge against Chelsea
You could call it belated revenge. Eight months after losing to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final, PSG dealt England a double blow at Stamford Bridge with goals from Kviča Kvaratschelia, Bradley Barcola and Seni Mayur.
PSG will continue to defend their title against either Galatasaray or Liverpool in the quarter-finals. Galatasaray won the first leg 1-0.
Eze’s wonder goal keeps Arsenal in good shape
It was a tough night for English clubs, but Arsenal secured a place in the last eight of the Premier League.
Declan Rice added a second goal at the Emirates Stadium as Eberechi Eze spun and fired a rising shot from the edge of the area.
Arsenal lead the Premier League by nine points and are heavy favorites to play in the English League Cup final (against Man City on Sunday) and second-tier Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Bodø/Glimt captivated the football world
The Bodø/Glimt fairy tale is over, but after an unexpected winning streak that captivated the football world.
After defeating Man City and Atletico Madrid in the last two rounds of the league stage to reach the play-off round, the northernmost team to have played in the Champions League defeated last season’s runners-up Inter Milan at home and away to reach the round of 16.
It wasn’t enough in last week’s 3-0 win over Sporting at the 8,000-capacity Azpu Mira Stadium, but Sporting dominated the return match from start to finish, taking the game into extra time with goals from Gonzalo Inacio, Pedro Goncalves and Luis Suarez.
Uruguayan left-back Maxi Araujo then scored in the 92nd minute to give Sporting their first lead on aggregate, with Rafael Nel adding a fifth goal in stoppage time. “People thought it would be almost impossible, but we believed in ourselves and showed that we turned it around. We played a perfect match,” Araujo said.
