Pepsi Changemakers: Pivotal instances from the Champions League quarter-final first legs
Monday, April 11, 2022
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Phil Foden, Alphonso Davies and Naby Keïta feature in our collection of Changemakers from the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first legs.
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UEFA Champions League Changemakers, brought to you by Pepsi, picks out the pivotal instances that proved decisive in shifting the momentum in the latest round of games.
Changemakers: Quarter-final first legs
Phil Foden sets up winner with first touch (Man. City 1-0 Atlético)
Thibaut Courtois' sensational save (Chelsea 1-3 Real Madrid)
Alphonso Davies' last-ditch block (Villarreal 1-0 Bayern)
Naby Keïta's interception and through ball (Benfica 1-3 Liverpool)
Phil Foden sets up winner with first touch
Pep Guardiola's side were struggling to create chances against the much-vaunted Atlético defence, but that all changed when the England midfielder replaced Riyad Mahrez in the 68th minute. Moments later, Foden found a pocket of space and slipped a low pass into the stride of Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian made no mistake, driving across Jan Oblak for the only goal of a tight contest.
Thibaut Courtois' sensational save
Courtois received a lukewarm welcome on his return to Stamford Bridge, but the Real Madrid No1 was in red-hot form when his side needed him. Karim Benzema had just completed his hat-trick to tear up Chelsea's half-time plans when César Azpilicueta had the chance to pull the hosts back to 3-2. The wing-back unleashed a thunderous effort that was heading for the top corner only for the Belgian to somehow fly high to his left and make a fingertip save.
Alphonso Davies' last-ditch block
Bayern were far from their best at Villarreal but they could have returned to Germany in a far worse position than 1-0 adrift were it not for a full-stretch intervention from Davies. The full-back was playing his first game since December but showed his defensive instincts remain as sharp as ever when he ate up the ground before sliding across Gerard Moreno to stop the Yellow Submarine striker extending their advantage.
Naby Keïta's interception and through ball
Benfica were pressing for a late equaliser when Keïta took matters into his own hands in Lisbon. The midfielder seized on a stray pass, galloped through the centre into Eagles territory then threaded a pin-point pass in behind the home defence for Luis Díaz to latch onto. The Colombian forward calmly skipped round Odisseas Vlachodimos and converted to inflict a potentially decisive blow in the tie.
