Champions League: Real Madrid eliminate Man City in penalty shootout to reach semis; Bayern knock out Arsenal

Real Madridreached the semifinal of the UEFA Champions League for the fourth consecutive season after they knocked out defending champions Manchester City in their own backyard. The contest played on Wednesday (April 17) evening saw Real Madrid win 4-3 on penalties after the tie had finished 4-4 over two legs. The win also saw Real book their 17th semifinal berth and will face Bayern Munich over two legs. The German giants beat Arsenal in the other quarterfinal on the night 1-0,winning the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

Real Madrid exact revenge

Having faced humiliation in the semifinal last year against Man City, Real Madrid were in no mood to repeat the same this season. In the 12th minute, Rodrygo picked a smart ball from the flank to score the opening goal of the night. His initial effort was saved by goalkeeper Ederson, but the rebound came swiftly for the Brazilian who made no mistake to make it 1-0 to Real.

However, after that, it was all Manchester City for the rest of the game and dominated the position, but failed to break the Real defence. However, their reward arrived in the 76th minute when Kevin de Bruyne scored from close range after a Phil Foden effort was not cleared by the defence. His equaliser set the tone for the final 15 minutes for City.

De Bruyne had a golden chance in the 80th minute to win the match and the tie but fired high above the goal. The chances were far and few between as the match headed to extra time with scores tied at 1-1. However, neither team wanted to leave the backdoor open and played a congested extra time to force a penalty shootout.

In the shootout, City had a good start after Modric missed his first effort with Julian Alvarez converting. However back-to-back misses from Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic left Man City on the back foot before former Chelsea man Antonio Rüdiger converted from the spot to take Real into the semis.

Arsenal out of Champions League

Harry Kane came back to bite his arch-rivals Arsenal after they beat the North London side 1-0 on the night. The solitary first-half goal from Joshua Kimmich was the difference-maker as Bayern got the job done to book a place in the semis. They won the tie 3-2 after the first leg had ended 1-1 in Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. They will now face Real Madrid in the semis as the race for the Wembley final heats up.