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When the draws for the quarterfinals fixtures of the Champions League were made, I, I'm sure like many other netizens felt that pitching Villarreal against Bayern Munchen was one of the most imbalanced pairing. Here we are today, they have knocked Bayern out of the competition.
Truth be told, I never gave the Submarines a chance, not because they are a bad team, not at all. A team that had just won the Europa League last season and finished second in their group behind Manchester United, losing the group by just one point shouldn't be less of a competition. But, I felt the pedigree and quality of Bayern were no match for Villarreal.
To further strengthen this point, Villarreal were rudely profligate in the first leg in Spain, winning by a lone goal and knowing the kind of team Bayern are, a lot of us felt they would blow away Villarreal in Germany. Only if one plus one always equals two in football.
Expectedly, Bayern didn't waste time to get into their strides last night, but credit to Unai Emery's side, they knew what they had to do, knowing that there was no away goals rule. They needed just to avoid defeat, regardless of whether it was a draw or win.
You know, sometimes I wonder what went wrong when Emery was at Arsenal. It's almost like Arsenal are the only team he took to a cup final in Europe without winning. He has truly shown that he's a cup coach, even though they're not doing very well in their local league
Anogher sweet point for me again was that Chukwueze scored. That kind of performance and finishing are what we always expect whe he dorns the Nigerian colours. Sadly, he's failed to live up to the expectations. I wish him all the best this season nonetheless.
Emery's boys know that their only route to next season's Champions League is to win this season's competition as their seventh place in the league will at best give them a place in the Conference League.
Sincerely, I'd like to be proven wrong. I believe Villarreal are just a spoilsport that were out destroys Bayern's joy because I do not see them going all the way. The semifinal may well be their last spot, but when you get to a stage like the last four in the Champions League, anything is possible. With a potential opposition in Liverpool or Benfica, they will be going into that tie again as an underdog.
We switch to the Bernabeu where all eyes were on last night and we almost saw another miraculous night in football, but like they say, class is permanent; this is the 12th man factor that Real Madrid deployed on the night.
Despite Chelsea winning convincingly at the weekend; you can't obviously compare Southampton to Madrid, I never expected them to score three goals at the Bernabeu without Madrid scoring one and no thanks to the cancelation of the away goals rule, it was all to play for on the night.
For someone who loathes Chelsea (no hard feelings, it's just the bants of football rivalry 😁) I must admit that Chelsea were the better side in the opening half and deserved to take the lead. Who else to lead the charge than the ever-improving Mason Mount. What composure and technique to finish off that pass from Timo Werner.
After that first goal, Chelsea knew that they had the game in their hands, the momentum had swung in their favour. They did all that was expected and it couldn't have gotten better with that second goal.
I think there is a need to widen the scope of the functions of VAR in a game to look at possible incorrect decisions that lead to a goal. The Chelsea second goal from that corner kick for instance shouldn't have come to being as the award of the corner kick itself was a wrong decision of all shades. The ball was kicked out of play by a Chelsea player, but surprisingly, the referee pointed to the corner flag and not to take anything away from Rudiger's header; it was pitch perfect. I could hear the commentator saying the German was auditioning for Madrid. Well, you can't blame a man for scoring a fine goal.
I can only wonder what was going through Carlo Ancelotti's mind after that Chelsea's second goal. He would have been torn between managing the game or searching for a goal to kill the game off.
Hard luck for Chelsea as they thought they had taken the lead in the tie when Alonso scored that stunner with his weaker right foot. Damn VAR the Spaniard must be chanting as his goal was ruled out having hit his hand slightly in the build up to his shot.
The introduction of Eduardo Camavinga brought a bit of balance to the middle for Madrid. It was a mix of stealth to shield the back and a spice going forward. For a 19-year old, he's been amazing for Madrid and he brought steadiness to allow Luka Modric venture forward a bit more. He is growing well into his new life and must be commended for taking one for the team in the 90th minute following an error by Carvajal that almost freed Pulisic through on Madrid's goal. This was after Chelsea had gotten their third through Werner and Madrid pulled one back through Rodrygo.
Rodrygo did absolutely well to guide that ball into the net for Madrid's first goal, but all the talk and work is about Modric's pass with the top of his outside boot. Oh my word! What do you call that? With every angle of the several replays you watch, you continue to appreciate the beauty of that pass. That pass should be placed in the museum for exhibition. You know, it's easy to overlook the work that Modric does in that midfield, but when you realize he's 35 working like a 20-year old, it becomes more appreciable.
Who else to rise to the occasion when needed the most than Benzema. Almost similar to the combination that gave Madrid the lead in the first leg, Vinicus Jr like he did all through the tie caused trouble for Chelsea on the right and an inch-perfect cross was met by a sublime Benzema header; Mendy had no chance.
That was a grand way for a defending champion to exit the tournament, not to just anyone but to the best team in the competition's history. You see that? Chelsea did not leave without a fight and I must confess, they would have been deserving had they gone through.
Thank you for reading and we hope for a more fulfilling semifinal round.
