Paris Saint-Germain dropped out of the 2022/23 Champions League as they went down to a 2-0 defeat in Munich to a typically efficient Bayern.
So World Cup finalists Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have had their time in the limelight and can turn their attention back to Ligue 1, while Bayern march on to the quarter-finals.
A Kingsley Coman goal gave Bayern a 1-0 win in Paris which gave the French champions an uphill battle, but they started well as both Mbappe and Messi came close to levelling. But despite having the better of the first half PSG failed to get on even terms and paid the price in the second period.
Eric Choupo-Moting thought he’d broken the deadlock on 53 minutes but the celebrations were halted by a VAR check which found Thomas Muller in a marginally offside position. You’d think that intervention might spark something in the Parisiens but it was Bayern who responded and Choupo-Moting in particular, as he did notch the opener just eight minutes later. This time he took a pass from Leon Goretzka in the centre of the penalty area and fired a sweet shot into the bottom left corner.
Mbappe forced a smart save from Yann Sommer low to his right and the Bayern keeper did well to keep out a header from Sergio Ramos but there was no way through for the visitors and Serge Gnabry, on as an 86th-minute substitute, made it two on the night and 3-0 on aggregate when he finished off a fast break.
The Champions League 2023 betting odds back FC Bayern as one of the best bets to make it through to the semi-finals and, on this evidence, it looks a decent shout.
Chelsea finally come good…with a little help from the VAR!
Possibly the biggest surprise of this week’s Champions League 2023 updates was Chelsea’s effort to overturn a first-leg deficit and beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 on aggregate. But there was a huge amount of controversy in the result surrounding the retake of Kai Havertz penalty in the 53rd minute.
Chelsea started brightly and they were rewarded before the break when Raheem Sterling met Ben Chilwell’s cutback, some ten yards out, with a searing strike which flew into the roof of the net. And the Blues had their golden chance to go ahead when Marius Wolf was, a little harshly, adjudged to have handled the ball when he got in the way of a Chilwell cross.
Havertz hammered his spot kick against the post but, as the Yellow Wall celebrated, VAR stepped in and the away end fell silent. Players from both sides had encroached into the penalty area; a blue shirt seemed to be the most advanced but to the letter of the law a retake was the outcome.
Havertz took his chance a second time around and Chelsea hung on for the win, which takes a little pressure off head coach Graham Potter. But BVB’s England star Jude Bellingham was far from impressed, saying: “The fact they had a retake is a joke.”
Dortmund pressed for the crucial next goal but they failed, Bellingham firing the best chance wide.
Spurs out with a whimper
AC Milan are through to the quarter finals of the Champions League after protecting a 1-0 first leg lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium…without breaking sweat. Spurs boss Antonio Conte returned to the touchline having recovered from gallbladder surgery and I bet he hadn’t bothered as his men registered just two shots on target, a poor return for a team which started the game at SBOTOP odds of 1.96 to win.
When Cristian Romero was red-carded on 77 minutes it was pretty much game up for Tottenham. Conte wasn’t amused as his defender, already on a yellow card, put in a crude challenge on Theo Hernandez and earned himself an early bath.
Both teams are under pressure in their domestic leagues, both pushing for a top-four place and, while this result is a boost to I Rossoneri it won’t have done much for Spurs.
Benfica batter Brugge
Roger Schmidt’s Benfica had no such problem hitting the target as the Pride of Lisbon put five past Club Brugge to send the Belgians out with an aggregate drubbing of 7-1.
The result meant that former Bournemouth manager Scott Parker has registered only two wins in his 12 games as head coach at Brugge and it turned out to be his last. His side held out for 38 minutes until Rafa Silva cut the visitors’ defence apart, leaving two defenders in his wake before smashing a left-foot strike into the net. Goncalo Ramos then helped himself to a brace with goals either side of the break as the floodgates opened. Joao Mario converted a penalty with 20 minutes remaining and David Neres completed the rout on 77.
Bjorn Meijer scored the goal of the night with a stunner which flew into the top corner but it was little consolation for Brugge or their beleaguered boss, who was promptly sacked.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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