Tuesday 6 May 2014

Champions League Quarter Finals (Second Legs)

Chelsea 2 v 0 PSG Schurrle (32), Ba (87)
(Aggregate scoreline - Chelsea 3 v 3 PSG, Chelsea go through on away goals).
First Half: Eto'o has an effort that deflects over at the near side. Ivanovic has a glancing header that goes wide of the far post. Lampard has a deflected free kick stopped by a great parry behind at the near side. Goal! 1-0, Chelsea take the lead as a long throw is flicked on by Luiz before Schurrle scores with a low shot into the far bottom corner. Schurrle has a penalty appeal turned down. Cahill slices a good chance high and wide of the far side.
Half Time: 1-0.
Second Half: Schurrle has a shot that crashed back off the bar. Oscar strikes a free kick across goal against the bar. Lavezzi has a free kick across goal punched behind. Cabaye blazes a shot over the bar from the edge of the box. Schurrle has an effort from the edge of the box saved. Cavanni fires a shot just over the bar at the near side. Ba has a penalty appeal turned down. Cavanni shoots just over the bar at the near side. Goal! 2-0, Chelsea are now going through on away goals as a low drive from Azpilicueta deflects into the path of Ba who scuffs the ball over the keeper from close range. Marquinhos has a shot really well parried behind at the near post.
Full Time: 2-0.



My Opinion:
My man of the match was Schurrle. Ba sends Chelsea into semi-finals. That was an incredible game to watch and Chelsea dug themselves out of a hole by getting the result they needed to go through into the Champions League semi-finals. They deserved to go through just for their determination as they pushed throughout to score those goals. Chelsea were the dominant team in the first half and went ahead just after the half hour mark as Schurrle slotted home brilliantly into the bottom corner. How Chelsea were not two goals up much sooner than they were amazed me as both Schurrle and Oscar saw their amazing efforts bounce back off the crossbar. On the whole, they were much better defensively than they were in the first leg and kept the likes of Cavanni and Lavezzi quiet. However, Cavanni could easily have scored on another night and they were fortunate that PSG were off the boil in front of goal. Nonetheless, it looked like Chelsea were not going to get that second goal depsite their best efforts until Demba Ba came on and scored a rather clumsy goal near the end to put Chelsea through. Incredible scenes and I'm pleased they were able to do it. 
PSG will be devastated with their performance tonight. They were in a really strong position at the start of the game but they paid the ultimate price for not being able to score an away goal. They played the majority of the game in their own half but had a couple of really good chances on the break but Cavanni volleyed both of his efforts over the bar. Things could easily have gone their way tonight but they didn't which means that they bow out in the quarter-finals. 

Borussia Dortmund 2 v 0 Real Madrid Reus (24,37)
(Aggregate scoreline - Real Madrid 3 v 2 Borussia Dortmund).



My Opinion:
Dortmund were so close to levelling the match but just couldn't find that third goal. They were all over Madrid in the second leg, looking like a completely different side that turned up in the Bernabeau. Reus put them two up on the night in the first half but they just couldn't find that extra goal that would have taken the tie into extra time. Lewandowski proved to be a big miss in both ties and could have proven to be the difference but last season's runners up bow out in this years quarter-finals. 
Real Madrid will be thanking their lucky stars after that atrocious performance. Ronaldo was left on the bench due to injury problems and it really showed that he wasn't on the pitch playing. Madrid were just all over the place and came so close to throwing away all their good work in the first leg. Somehow, they managed to hold on at 2-0 down but it was a real eye opener and cause for concern for the semi-finals. They will be hoping that Ronaldo returns from injury asap because that just wasn't good enough.

Best Goal: Schurrle, Reus. Winner: Schurrle

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