There was definitely plenty of interesting football to be seen this week, as half of the last sixteen have decided their fate in Europe’s top notch football competition. Plenty of goals have been scored, in some matches too many, in others too few.
On Tuesday evening, Arsenal took on AC Milan for the return leg in London. After the Gunners were humiliated in a 4:0 defeat in Milan a few weeks earlier, only a few were brave enough to bet on them progressing to the quarter finals. However, during the long wait for the Rossoneri to return the favour of sightseeing, Arsene’s Arsenal have played some very impressive football in-between.
On February 26th, the Gunners faced Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium. After being down 2:0 at home, Wenger’s boys, and men, turned the match around by 180° and ended up winning 5:2. Arsenal’s star striker this season, Robin Van Persie, was the man behind the team’s success, as he kept on fighting until the very last minute and also got rewarded with three goals in the last two matches in the English Premier League. Arsenal also impressed me with their win at Anfield Road, one of the toughest venues to win a match of football, no matter how bad Liverpool’s form may be at the moment.
So, some of the hope of the Arsenal fans was legitimate, as mission-nearly-impossible started off. The Gunners kicked off with a very high pace, one could immediately read their will to turn the aggregate score around. And the audience did not have to wait long, as defender Koscielny headed in the ball after a corner kick from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 6th minute, as he was completely unmarked by the Italians.
One did not have to wait long for the next goal, as AC Milan’s defense was terrible that night. Plenty of mistakes in their back rows set up numerous chances for the Gunners during the match. Just like that, Rosicky took advantage of a bad pass within the sixteen-yard area and buried the ball with a flat and hard shot into the near post of Christian Abbiati. It was 2:0 already and not even half an hour played.
The game continued Arsenal’s way and the statistics showed at 30 minutes in. Five total attempts at goal for Arsenal, only two for Milan. And keep in mind two of five have already been converted into goals. So it was no surprise that Arsenal kept on pushing forward and also get rewarded for their work. In the 43rd minute Oxlade-Chamberlain got his side a penalty kick, as Milan’s defender Mesbah brought him down with a clumsy tackle. Who else but captain Van Persie stepped up and converted with an unstoppable shot into the top right corner of Abbiati’s goal.
It was now half-time and Arsenal were leading 3:0. Somehow, I was reminded of the epic final in Istanbul.
The second half continued with a high pace, however Milan’s defense was slightly more aware now. Nevertheless, Arsenal still had plenty of chances to increase their lead and by that get on terms on the aggregate scoreline. The best of these chances fell to Robin Van Persie in the 58th minute, as Milan’s defense messed up once again.
But it was not to be for Arsenal, as Milan prevailed. The most dangerous players on Milan’s side were Ibrahimovic and El Sharawy, who both had chances to decide the match at any point, as Arsenal would have needed to score six goals by then, if the Rossoneri had scored in London. The match ended 3:0, on aggregate 3:4 with AC Milan progressing to the quarter finals.
In the other match of Tuesday night, Benfica Lisbon defeated Zenit St. Petersburg with goals to nil. Maxi Pereira opened the scoring for the Portuguese just before half time, which already put Benfica into a progressing state, as the first leg ended 3:2 for St. Petersburg. Reason being that Benfica benefited from their two away goals. Nonetheless, the Portuguese kept on fighting until the very last minute in order to seal their win. Nelson Oliveira scored the second for Benfica in added time.
The two matches on Wednesday also had quite something to offer. FC Barcelona faced German side Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the Camp Nou and Olympique Lyon headed to the island of Cyprus to face APOEL Nikosia.
Barcelona had a rather big advantage heading into the game at home, as they had already won in Germany with three goals to one. In the first leg, Leverkusen seemed to be more of fans of the Barça side themselves than actual opponents. And so it continued in Catalonia.
Sometimes people in Germany ask me, why I do not follow the Bundesliga or the German teams in general as much as I follow the English Premier League or the Spanish LFP. Well, to be honest, it is because of matches like these. Bayer Leverkusen played like little boys with too much respect and awe for the Spanish side. And the Barcelona players caught up on that psychological advantage.
Leverkusen held out for 25 minutes, but then the Lionel Messi show began, as he put his first into the net after a great pass from Xavi. Before that, Barcelona could have led by two or three goals already if it wasn’t for goalkeeper Leno. Barcelona continued to push forward and Messi dribbled his way past the defense in the 42nd minute to put the ball into the net for the second Barça goal. Leverkusen were very lucky that it was only 2:0 at half time.
But that did not stop Barcelona of course. Messi completed his hat trick at just 50 minutes played, as he lifted the ball over Leno for the second time. After a pass from Fabregas, Tello made it 4:0 in the 56th minute, only to take turns on goal scoring with Messi from now on. Hence, the little Argentine scored his fourth goal just two minutes later. Then again, Tello replaced him as the latest scorer in the Camp Nou in the 62nd minute to make it 6:0 for the Spaniards.
After that goal exchange between Messi and Tello, Leverkusen had a few minutes to breathe before the next one flew past Leno. Lionel Messi scored his fifth goal of the evening in the 85th minute to make it an astounding 7:0 for Barcelona. One might wonder, how on earth Bayer Leverkusen even managed to get this far in Europe’s top level competition.
It was quite surprising that the team from Germany managed to get one goal just before the end of the match, as Bellarabi scored a beautiful goal that curled past Víctor Valdés into the right hand corner of the goal. Still, it was the very definition of a consolation goal.
The second match of Wednesday night, APOEL Nikosia vs. Olympique Lyon also handed out a big surprise, as Lyon were defeated in a penalty shootout by 4:3. But I always welcome underdog sides that progress into the quarter finals, as APOEL did this time. It was also the first time a team from Cyprus managed to get to this stage of the competition.
The Germafrican 