Epics decide last eight: Best of the second legs
Thursday, March 19, 2015
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Extra time, penalty shoot-outs, away comebacks, spectacular goals, superb saves: the round of 16 second legs had everything and we pick out the highlights.
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The lineup for the quarter-finals is complete after a superb set of UEFA Champions League round of 16 second legs. UEFA.com picks the best of the action with commentary highlights from our radio show Matchday Live.
Team: Juventus
Competition was fairly stiff for this slot, not least from a couple of sides eliminated. But Juve take the plaudits after travelling to the intimidating BVB Stadion Dortmund defending a narrow 2-1 lead and coming away with a superb 3-0 victory.
Key to the victory was Carlos Tévez's magnificent third-minute strike which knocked the stuffing out of Borussia Dortmund: he was to set up the second goal and score the third. "We have left an exclamation mark in Europe," said coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Near misses: FC Schalke 04 & Arsenal FC
The other stand-out performances were in defeat (or victory, but aggregate defeat, elimination anyway ...). No team has ever gone away and overturned a two-goal deficit in the UEFA Champions League, but both Schalke and Arsenal were within an ace of doing so.
Schalke did not seem to have a prayer of coming back from 2-0 behind as they travelled to Real Madrid CF. But twice they led in the first half and then came from behind to lead 4-3, Iker Casillas only just denying Schalke an away-goal clincher. Arsenal started 3-1 behind against AS Monaco FC and although they were able to draw the aggregate score level, the 2-0 win was not enough due to the away goals rule.
Player: Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain)
Fine individual performances were not at a premium either, but the Paris captain did a superb job in defence alongside David Luiz at Stamford Bridge as, with ten men after Zlatan Ibrahimović was dismissed, they took Chelsea FC to extra time, then won on away goals. That decisive away goal was Silva's incredible 114th-minute header that looped over Thibaut Courtois not long after the goalkeeper had superbly denied the Brazilian.
Goalkeeper: Joe Hart (Manchester City FC)
After Barcelona beat City 1-0 to go through 3-1 on aggregate, Lionel Messi told UEFA.com that "Hart is a phenomenon". Messi himself was denied on several occasions as he looked for the goal that would take him back ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the all-time competition table. In all Hart made ten saves, the most in the UEFA Champions League for several seasons.
Hart himself said of Barcelona: "They've got a lot of belief in what they do and they've got Lionel Messi." They've also got Marc-André ter Stegen, who challenged Hart for the award of 'goalkeeper of the match' with his crucial penalty save from Sergio Agüero.
Quote: "We are what people saw tonight: a team that sometimes don't play well but put their soul into the game"
Diego Simeone on how a below-par Club Atlético de Madrid were able to edge past Bayer 04 Leverkusen with a 1-0 win and a penalty shoot-out.
Moment: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (FC Schalke 04)
Back to Schalke's heroic last stand in Madrid, and the moment when with six minutes left Huntelaar claimed his second goal of the game at his old home stadium, thumping the ball off the underside of the crossbar.
In the end, what would have been perhaps the greatest comeback in competition history was not completed, but not much could beat the sheer exhiliration of those last minutes after Huntelaar's strike "They were a little bit insecure and we tried to take advantage," Huntelaar told UEFA.com.
Number: 4
All four of FC Porto's goals in their 4-0 defeat of FC Basel 1893 were from outside the area, the pick Casemiro's free-kick for the third, only just pipping Yacine Brahimi's set-piece opener.
Photo: Jerome Boateng with the second of FC Bayern München's seven goals against FC Shakhtar Donetsk
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