UCL Round of 16 Second Leg Review Part Two
With the final week of Round of 16 action at an end, we now know the clubs that will be taking part in the Quarter Final.
With the last week of matches in the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 now over, we have confirmation of the eight football clubs set to participate in the Quarter Final stage of this season’s competition. The draw is set to take place at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland at 11am on Friday 15th March 2024.
This draw will also see the clubs learn who they could be up against in the semi-finals, should they get that far. The action from the last couple of days has seen Arsenal attempt to come from behind to beat Portuguese side FC Porto at the Emirates Stadium, and Barcelona looked to seal their spot in the next round against reigning Italian Champions Napoli.
Atletico Madrid also had a job to do if they wanted to qualify for the last eight, as they had to come from behind to beat runaway Italian Serie A league leaders Inter Milan at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid if they wanted to achieve this goal. Borussia Dortmund and Eredivisie league leaders PSV Eindhoven were to compete for a spot in the Quarter Final following a 1 –Â 1 draw from the first leg at the Philips Stadion in the Netherlands.
Here, we will review all of the matches that took place in the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League this week, starting with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side coming face to face with Portugal’s FC Porto at the Emirates Stadium in North London on Tuesday night.
Arsenal (England) 1 – 0 (4 – 2 pens) FC Porto (Portugal)
We start with FC Porto’s visit to North London to face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners had some work to do after being defeated 1 – 0 in the first leg away from home in Portugal. To the relief of all of an Arsenal persuasion, they were able to go through 4 – 2 on penalties after levelling the tie at 1 – 1 after winning 1 – 0 in normal time.
It took the home team until the latter stages of the first half to take the lead. Belgium international forward Leandro Trossard gave the Gunners the advantage on the night, levelling the tie at 1 – 1 (41’). There were further chances, but it did go to penalties, which Arsenal won 4 – 2 in the end.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal had the most possession with 55% compared to the 45% of the ball that FC Porto had in the match. The Gunners had considerably more efforts on goal with 14 compared to 9 from their Portuguese counterparts.
FC Barcelona (Spain) 3 – 1 (4 – 2 Agg.) Napoli (Italy)
We now move on to the other game that took place on Tuesday evening, which was between Xavi’s FC Barcelona and the reigning Italian Serie A Champions Napoli at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. After a 1 – 1 draw from the first leg, Barça emerged victorious after winning 3 – 1 on the night to make it a 4 – 2 victory on aggregate for the Blaugrana.
The La Liga side took the lead through 20-year-old Spanish midfielder FermÃn López (15’) before former Manchester City full-back João Cancelo doubled the home side’s advantage just a few minutes later (17’). Kosovo international defender Amir Rrahmani gave the away side hope halfway through the second half, only for former Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski to put the game – and the tie – beyond doubt, making it 3 – 1 with just 7 minutes of normal time remaining.
It was actually the away side, Napoli, that had the most possession, with 53% compared to 47% for FC Barcelona. Barça had far more attempts on goal, though, with 24 compared to the visitors’ 14.
Atletico Madrid (Spain) 2 – 1 (3 – 2 on pens) Inter Milan (Italy)
The third game from this week that we will review is one of two games to take place on Wednesday evening. It was a contest between Atletico Madrid and runaway Italian Serie A league leaders Inter Milan at the Estadio Metropolitano in the Spanish Capital. Atletico Madrid came from a goal down to win 2 – 1 on the night, eventually leading to a penalty shootout that the home side won 3 – 2 in the end.
It was the Nerazzurri who took the lead just after half an hour had elapsed when defender Federico Dimarco scored to make it 2 – 0 on aggregate to Inter Milan (33’). The equaliser for Diego Simeone’s side came through Antoine Griezmann just a couple of minutes later (35’). A late goal from former Manchester United forward Memphis Depay ensured extra time, which led to a penalty shootout that Atletico Madrid won 3 – 2.
It was the away side in this game that had the most possession, with 52% compared to 48% for Atletico. The home side did, however, have the most attempts on goal with 23, whilst Simone Inzaghi’s Inter had 15 to their name.
Borussia Dortmund (Germany) 2 – 0 (3 – 1 on Agg.) PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Finally, the last game from this week to review is the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg tie between Borussia Dortmund and PSV Eindhoven at the Signal Iduna Park in Germany on Wednesday night. In the first leg, Edin Terzic’s BVB drew 1 – 1 with their Dutch counterparts at the Philips Stadion. They did go on to win this tie 3 – 1 on aggregate after beating PSV 2 – 0 on the night.
Manchester United loanee gave Borussia Dortmund the lead in the first few minutes of the contest before BVB legend Maro Reus put the game beyond all reasonable doubt by making it 2 – 0 deep into second half stoppage time (90+5’).
Dortmund edged possession with 52% of the ball compared to 48% for PSV. As for efforts on target, PSV Eindhoven edged it with 17 shots compared to 15 for the home side.
Excitement and anticipation is building ahead of the draw on Friday and for when the first legs of the Quarter Finals of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League gets underway on Tuesday 9th April 2024.
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