There were tears of both kinds this week, as five Premier League clubs experienced the harsh trials and climatic tribulations of European football. There were two Champions League fixtures, three Europa League fixtures followed by the draw held for both competitions on Friday.
Tuesday night was host to Manchester City’s second leg against Borussia Monchengladbach, held at the same stadium (the Puskás Arena, Budapest) as the first leg. Carrying a 2-0 aggregate score into the second round, Manchester City displayed similar dominance and effectively ended the tie within the first 20 minutes with two quick goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne. Phil Foden was also particularly impressive for the Citizens, and Guardiola can have no complaints with two tidy performances going into the next round.
A day later saw our second English-featuring Champions League tie: Chelsea’s home leg against Atletico Madrid. A smart away win gave the Blues an advantage against Simeone’s team, although many expected the Spanish side to bounce back in the away leg. But aside from a bright opening, the game played perfectly into Chelsea’s hands.
A fantastic display from Chelsea’s midfielders, especially N’golo Kanté, gave them command of the game. They put it out of Atletico’s reach with a lovely goal from Hakim Ziyech, assisted by Timo Werner. The Spanish team’s one penalty appeal was waved away, and they never looked like coming back in, with the result sealed by Stefan Savic’s red card and Emerson’s late goal to make it 2-0. Tuchel praised his side afterwards and was hopeful of their chances to win, saying that “I’m pretty sure nobody wants to play us.”
Alongside the Champions League action came the Europa League ties, which were less convincing for the English sides. Manchester United secured qualification to the quarter-finals in their away tie against AC Milan. The tie was no easy feat, with United needing to score to go through, but United dealt with it well. Substitute Paul Pogba’s goal was the only one of the match, the Frenchman scoring less than three minutes after he was brought on at halftime. The victory gives United an extra spur of confidence going into their FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester City.
Arsenal were less convincing in their home leg against Olympiakos. Although the Gunners were lacklustre, lacking control in the game, they held on to only lose 0-1 to the Greek side – their 3-1 away leg result seeing them through to progression into the quarter-finals. Arteta admitted after the game that his team were “nowhere near the level we have to set ourselves” but were happy to be through nonetheless.
While the Gunners were bad, north London rivals Tottenham were even worse. Despite carrying a comfortable 2-0 lead into the tie, Spurs faltered dramatically on the night and fell victim to a fantastic hat-trick by Mislav Oršić. Speculation has quickly mounted over Mourinho’s future at the club, as the loss consigns Tottenham’s season to near-failure.
These games were followed by both competitions’ respective quarter-final draws on Friday. In the Champions League, Manchester City will face another German club, Borussia Dortmund and will play either PSG or Barcelona if they progress into the semi-final. Chelsea will face Porto, while Liverpool will have to endure a repeat of the 2018 final as they play Real Madrid – the winner of both of these ties will play each other.
In the Europa League, Arsenal face Slavia Prague, who have already knocked out two British sides (Leicester and Rangers), while Manchester United were drawn against Spanish side Granada. They will also avoid each other in the semi-finals. Complete draws are listed below.
Champions League
Manchester City v Dortmund.
Porto v Chelsea.
Bayern Munich v PSG.
Real Madrid v Liverpool.
Europa League
Granada v Manchester United.
Arsenal v Slavia Praha.
Ajax v Roma.
Dinamo Zagreb v Villareal.
