Imperial Bayern again knocked PSG out of the competition. Author: Reuters

After a couple of weeks that seemed long, like a housing procedure or a civil registration procedure, a few days ago the European Football Champions League returned with the first round of the round of 16 second legs.

There have been four very close matches in which Bayern, Chelsea, Benfica and Milan have finally come out on top, the first passengers who are already waiting for the rest of their possible opponents in the quarter-final stage.

In the most high-profile confrontation of all, the Bavarians beat Paris Saint-Germain Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé 2-0 at home. The French have failed for the tenth time (eleventh if you count the 2020 final, which they lost to the Germans themselves) in an attempt to overcome the direct relegation instance of a major European club competition.

For Bayern only applause. The current Bundesliga monarchs were solid for 180 minutes of the match, with Dayot Upamecano and Matthijs de Ligt as the mainstay in defense and two former matador Parisians: Kingsley Coman and Eric-Maxime Choupo-Moting, as well as Serge Gnabry. The author of the third goal in his favor.

Meanwhile, in London, Chelsea, a team that has only scored five goals this year, had a successful night and scored a couple of goals thanks to Raheem Sterling and Kai Havertz (from the penalty spot) to eliminate Dortmund. go 1-0 in the first match and end with no options or hits to finish off the double champions (2012 and 2021) of the tournament.

Benfica, who arrived with a two-goal lead, also used their local status to completely defeat (5-1) Brugge, who found their limits here. Rafa Silva, Gonzalo Ramos (double), Joao Mario (penalty) and David Neres scored for Aguilas, while Bjorn Meyer equalized for the Belgians. In anticipation of the next stage, everyone is already looking at Lisbon with respect.

Finally, the historic Milan managed to maintain a minimal lead in the first leg and a goalless draw knocked out the tepid Tottenham, a team that year after year also falls short of all the trophies. For the Italians, this promotion to the top eight was the first in 11 years, which gives their fans some optimism for the near future, knowing that skudetTo seems almost impossible for them.

The action doesn’t stop

If the four definitions that we have recently enjoyed were spectacular, then it must be said that the following also arouse great hopes among all fans of the most versatile sport.

Let’s start with the fact that at the Santiago Bernabeu we are waiting for the second leg Real Madrid-Liverpool (5:2), in which the English giants will try to recover and recoup after the defeat in the previous match. Seeing what you see, anything can happen here, now that the reds seem to be resurrected and the meringues are in a terrible phase of the game.

Manchester City and Leipzig (1:1) will play another clash with an ending that is very difficult to predict. Yes, the Premier League champions are the favourites, but the Red Bull team have shown they have what it takes to compete and if they manage to weather the onslaught of the Sky Blues they have a chance to surprise.

Meanwhile, two other Italians, Napoli and Inter, seem to be doing just fine after beating Frankfurt (2-0) and Porto (1-0). May be partenopeia It will be more difficult for them because they have to visit Eintracht at the same time Nerazzurri They will accept the Portuguese and will certainly use the home court factor to their advantage.

Source: Juventud Rebelde