Real Madrid -on the day it celebrated 122 years of history- and Manchester City managed to qualify for the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League after eliminating RB Leipzig and Copenhagen respectively, thus joining Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, who both qualified on Tuesday. Both teams, which started as favorites before the games were played, did not fail and slipped into the top eight teams in Europe.
✅ 4/8 teams confirmed...
Quarter-finals loading ⌛#UCL pic.twitter.com/V7Xhz79ufX
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 6, 2024
Real Madrid suffers but achieves classification
Real Madrid hosted RB Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabéu with half the qualification in their pocket thanks to the victory achieved in Germany in the first leg. A priori, the Spanish team should not have had much trouble against an inferior opponent, but the script of the match was very different. The Germans began to dominate and had the best opportunities in the first half, although they failed to penetrate the Real Madrid goal in the first 45 minutes.
🙌 ¡ESTAMOS EN CUARTOS! 🙌
🏁 @RealMadrid 1-1 @RBLeipzig (Global 2-1)
⚽ 65' @vinijr
⚽ 68' Orbán#UCL pic.twitter.com/luspRP1Kgg— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) March 6, 2024
The reading of the second half was somewhat different than the first. Real Madrid began to press and generate more scoring opportunities, until, in the 65th minute, Vinícius Júnior put his team ahead on the scoreboard after a solid pass from Jude Bellingham (1-0).
From there, a dominance by the Spanish was expected, but just three minutes after Vinícius Júnior's goal, RB Leipzig captain Will Orban headed a cross and put the tie in the scoreboard (1-1). The Germans continued to put pressure on Real Madrid's goal and tried to take the game to extra time, however, they were unable to find a way.
Manchester City advances without difficulties
In the other game of the day, the reigning UEFA Champions League champions dominated from start to finish and barely had any problems against Copenhagen. Manchester City, who received their rival after defeating them 1-3 on Danish soil, only needed the first 45 minutes of play to confirm their place in the quarterfinals.
Another record in the #UCL! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/RdZXvcMebZ
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 6, 2024
When the clock only marked minute 5, defender Manuel Akanji scored the first goal of the game with a perfect shot after a corner (1-0). Four minutes later, Argentine striker Julián Álvarez widened the gap after an error by the rival goalkeeper (2-0).
Elyounoussi gave Copenhagen a glimmer of hope with a great goal in the 29th minute (2-1), however, with just seconds before the end of the first half, Manchester City star Erling Haaland scored the final goal of the game (3-1).
Next week we will find out the other four teams that will accompany PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League and that will emerge from the following qualifying rounds: Arsenal-Porto, FC Barcelona-Napoli, Borussia Dortmund-PSV Eindhoven and Atlético de Madrid-Inter Milan.
