Author – Amrit Santlani
Erling Haaland chases Cristiano Ronaldo’s record as Manchester City put Bayern to the sword
Manchester City’s talismanic striker Erling Haaland scored his 12th European goal of the season, closing in on Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for the most goals during a Champions League campaign (17), in a 1-1 draw with Bayern. Tuchel’s side were 3-0 down on aggregate and came flying out onto the Allianz Arena pitch in search of an important early goal to tip the scales in their favor.
Jamal Musiala put Leroy Sané in the box early in the first half, but the latter couldn’t get a shot away. At the other end, Bayern were almost punished for their slow finishing when Kevin de Bruyne took Erling Haaland through on goal, with Dayot Upamecano having one last go. The referee showed a red card, but the offside flag came to Bayern’s rescue.
Haaland then had a glorious chance to equalize, but failed to do so. In the second half, Tuchel’s team started to play forward, Kingsley Coman beat a couple of defenders and shot, but Ederson saved. City then counter-attacked with breathtaking pace. De Bruyne again released Haaland and the Norwegian shot past Yann Sommer to score the equalizer. The hosts had a glimmer of hope when Kimmich scored from the penalty spot, but it was too little too late and Guardiola’s side progressed to the next round.
Inter Milan and Benfica play 3-3 with goals as Serie A giants advance
With Benfica trailing 2-0, they knew they had to score first at San Siro. However, Nicolo Barella scored early on to make it 3-0 in Inter’s favor. André Onana made a great save to keep Benfica at bay and shortly afterwards Lautaro Martinez scored Milan’s second goal, but a foul cancelled out the shot. Fredrik Aursnes scored a brilliant equalizer to make it 1-1 on the night and keep Benfica alive. Martinez eventually found the back of the net in the second half to put Inter back in command. Joaquin Correa scored to put another nail in the visitors’ coffin. Antonio Silva and Petar Musa scored twice in quick succession to show that Benfica still had plenty of life left in them, but it was a very steep mountain to climb as Inter went ahead 5-3 on aggregate.
Champions League semi-final:
- 09/05 e 17/05: Real Madrid – Man City
- 10/05 and 16/05: Milan – Inter