On Tuesday night, two second leg quarter-final matches were played in the UEFA Champions League. After them, the first two clubs emerged who will continue their fight for the prestigious tournament trophy.
The most attention was drawn to the match at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium, where Madrid's "Real" hosted the Munich "Bayern" footballers. After a tense battle that lasted more than 90 minutes and questionable referee decisions, "Real" club reached the semi-finals for a record seventh consecutive time with a 4-2 victory.
The match started with active football - the guests from Munich had more time with the ball, but they failed to create anything dangerous. Sergio Ramos had the best chance, but his shot was blocked by Jerome Boateng.
In the second half, there were more events and controversial referee decisions - in the 51st minute, a penalty was awarded to the hosts, although it was highly questionable. However, the match referee did not change his decision and Robert Lewandowski soon converted the penalty.
The "Real" team tried to salvage the situation, although they were still safe from an away goal. In the 76th minute, the hosts scored a crucial equalizer - after a superb pass from Casemiro, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was unmarked by the defenders, headed the ball past Manuel Neuer.
However, just a few minutes later, the defending champions made a grave defensive error - after a misunderstanding with Nacho and Keylor Navas, S. Ramos comically scored an own goal. The score was 2-1 in favor of Bayern, which meant the possibility of extra time.
In the 84th minute, the match referee from Hungary made another controversial decision - he showed a second yellow card to Arturo Vidal, although he played the ball. However, A. Vidal was lucky before this episode, as the Chilean could have been sent off as early as the 55th minute.
In the tenth minute of extra time, Bayern showed character, but then Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up. In the 105th minute, the Portuguese once again equalized the score, although his goal was scored from an obvious offside position.
The disoriented Bavarians lost hope of qualifying for the semi-finals - in the 110th minute, C. Ronaldo scored his third goal. However, the biggest credit for this episode went to Marcelo, who dribbled past the entire Bayern defense and then passed the ball to the best player of last year near the goal.
Two minutes later, young Marcelo Asensio also scored, and with an overall score of 6-3, "Real" advanced to the semi-finals.
In the other match, "Leicester City" battled Madrid's "Atletico". The English champions, who suffered a minimal defeat in the Spanish capital, failed to overcome Diego Simeone's players - the match ended in a draw, and with an overall score of 2-1, "Rojiblancos" progressed.
The starting line-ups were:
"Real Madrid": Navas; Carvajal, Ramos, Nacho, Marcelo; Isco, Casemiro, Kroos, Modrič; Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo.
"Bayern": Neuer; Lahm, Boateng, Hummels, Alaba; Xabi Alonso, Vidal, Thiago; Robben, Ribery, Lewandowski.
"Leicester": Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan, Benalouane, Fuchs; Albrighton, Ndidi, Drinkwater, Mahrez; Vardy, Okazaki.
"Atletico": Oblak; Juanfran, Savic, Godin, Filipe Luis; Gimenez Gabi, Koke; Saul, Carrasco, Griezmann.
"Real" - "Bayern" 4-2
112' M.Asensio ('Real') - 4-2
110' C.Ronaldo ('Real') - 3-2
105' C.Ronaldo ('Real') - 2-2
101' - A.Robbenas ('Bayern') - yellow card
84' - A.Vidalis ('Bayern') - second yellow card (red)
78' - S.Ramos ('Real', own goal) 1-2
76' - C.Ronaldo ('Real') - 1-1
53' - R.Lewandowskis (penalty) 0-1
41' - Casemiro ('Real') - yellow card
6' - A.Vidalis ('Bayern') - yellow card
"Leicester City" - "Atletico" 1-1
61' - J.Vardy ('Leicester') scored a goal
26' - S.Niguez ('Atletico') scored a goal - 0-1
