The Champions League quarterfinals are completed, with the last two passengers being Barcelona and Bayern Munich. The two powerhouses will meet next Friday in Portugal.
Barcelona Cruise Past Napoli Into the Quarterfinals
Blaugrana defeated the guests from Italy much easier than anyone could predict. After seeing them in a very unpleasant situation, facing all sorts of problems inside and outside the locker room, Barcelona surprised all of their supporters, may we add, positively.
A 3-1 win was just what this team needed, and the way they played is even a better thing. We need to say that Barcelona controlled the match right from the start, up until the final whistle, and that they didn’t have any problems at all.
Still, Napoli‘s players were steaming following the game, as they believe that the hosts’ opening goal came after an obvious foul, committed by Luis Suarez. Lenglet used the open space following that to find the back of the net and lift Barca to 1-0.
Fourteen minutes later, in the 24th minute, Leo Messi scored another goal, and Suarez tripled the lead in the 45+1 minute, after Messi stole the ball in front of one of Napoli’s players who then brought him down.
A few minutes later, also in the stoppage time, Insigne used the penalty on the other side, to set the finals score. Of course, at that point, nobody could predict that there wouldn’t be any goals in the latter 45 minutes, but that happened in the end.
That part of the game was pretty boring, with just a few mild opportunities for scoring. Barcelona tried to keep the ball in its possession and delay the game as much as possible, which eventually happened. They would impose a slow tempo with low intensity, and secure a victory.
Bayern Ruthless Against Chelsea
After 0-3 in London, Bayern once again hammered the Blues, 4-1. Despite the fact that the Bavarians played their previous competitive event in early July, they looked pretty sharp on the Allianz Arena field. Meanwhile, Chelsea was soft and weak, without any motives to play, and the Germans punished that severely.
Lewandowski scored the first goal from the penalty spot 10th minute), and Ivan Perisic added another one after fourteen minutes following the opener.
For a brief moment, it seemed that the visiting side had an initiative. They would even score, but the goal was disallowed because of an offside. Bayern immediately took over the wheel, but then again, Chelsae managed to score until the halftime pause, with Tammy Abraham once more showcasing his skillset. It was a goal in the final minute of the opening half.
Many expected to see them coming out ready for the battle in the second 45 minutes, but an opposite scenario happened. Chelsea was still without a desire and will for playing, and there was no way for Bayern to skip that gift. Tolisso and Lewandowski would score late goals, to set the final score, and end Chelsea’s season in a pretty abrupt way.
