The culminating match-day of the second leg action in the Champions League knockout stages exemplified everything the tournament stands for. Passion, determination, character, mentality, grit and killer instinct were all packaged perfectly together to provide the fans with some of the most memorable football from the season. Joining Milan, Barcelona, Benfica and APOEL are now Bayern Munich, Marseille, Real Madrid and Chelsea.
While it was easy cruising for Madrid and Bayern after few unexpected pair of results during their respective first leg games, Chelsea played their hearts out on an unforgettable night at Stamford Bridge to overturn a 2-goal first leg deficit against Napoli. Claudio Ranieriai??i??s dreadful spell continued as Inter conceded a late away goal at San Siro to go down to Marseille despite winning the leg 2-1.
Bayern Munich 7-0 FC Basel
The doubters were put to rest by the Bavarian team at Allianz Arena as they once again reclaimed their rampant best to put seven past the Basel net and in the process, not only secured their qualification for the next round but re-established their position as one of the serious title favorites for the season. Though Bayern were trailing by a goal coming into this tie, they never seemed like chasing the game and took off from where they had left in the weekend league game against Hoffenheim. Confidence, swagger and intent was always on show from the home side and the Swiss outfit sadly did not have anything to answer back to their more celebrated counterparts.
Mario Gomez truly hogged the limelight scoring four on the night taking his tally in the tournament to 11 goals, second only to Lionel Messi. The Argentineai??i??s five against Leverkusen garnered heavy media attention but the performance notched up by Super Mario the other night was no less in comparison. Arjen Robben too was on top of his game scoring two and setting up another for Thomas Muller to find his only goal for the night. A 3-0 scoreline at the half time put the game well beyond the visitorsai??i?? reach and the second half was only expected to add to their wounds, which is what exactly happened.
Having reached to this stage, eliminating Manchester United on the way and having already beaten Bayern in the reverse fixture, Basel had proven themselves enough and won plaudits aplenty. Effectively they had nothing to lose from here and should have displayed a more open game but the enormity of the occasion simply got the better of them and it is not the easiest of things to play at a venue like Allianz Arena either. Given their home form, one may hardly discount Bayern for the title this season since the finals are to be held at the same venue. The managers of the two Spanish giants would have certainly watched this game and it would not be farfetched to assume theyai??i??d be wishing to avoid the Germans till the farthest point possible.
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FC Internazionale 2-1 Marseille
You must feel for the man. Claudio Ranieri deserves better than this. Hereai??i??s a man who has been salvaging sinking ships all his life and is yet to win a major piece of silverware. It was business as usual for Ranieri when he took the reins from Gasperini after a dreadful start to the season for InterAi??and turned them a winning unit slowly but surely. Just when people began to reconsider them a threat in Italy and in Europe, the Nerazzurri fumbled again and how. The shambolic run of form in the league carried forward in Europe too as they succumbed to a defeat in France two weeks back despite creating more opportunities and being the better of the two sides.
The return leg however, was considered a point from which Inter could revamp their season with a victory that could inspire the entire unit to raise the bar for the remainder of the season. An away win against Chievo over the weekend was just about the perfect result before going into this game but the Italians (dare we call them) never seemed to be up for it. A lineup boasting of whoai??i??s who of world football once again failed to excel as a unit and despite a goal from Milito in the second half that restored parity to the tie, Inter once more failed not to concede owing to a sloppy piece of defending in the stoppage time that lead to a goal from Brandao to settle the tie in favour of Didier Deschampsai??i??s men. Giampaolo Pazzini converted from the spot kick in the 94th minute but ironically it was the Marseille contingent that celebrated that goal since only the final whistle followed it. Marseille progressed on away goal advantage as the two stoppage time goals ai??i?? one in each leg ai??i?? for the French side ascertained their place in the last eight.
One may hardly believe this is the same set of players who assembled to build a triumphant unit only two seasons back under Jose Mourinho. Inter have failed to look past the Portuguese and it is high time Moratti built a new team from scratch. Wesley Sneijder is all set to leave for England in the summer and with their league position hardly suggesting of a qualification in Europe next season, one may believe this was the last time fans saw Javier Zanetti in action on a European night.
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Real Madrid 4-1 CSKA Moscow
With or without the away goal Cristian Ronaldo scored in Russia two weeks back, Real Madrid were always certain to annihilate the Russians in this fixture and guarantee their spot in the next round. Jose Mourinhoai??i??s men have been playing the best football across Europe this season and one wouldAi?? sympathise with CSKA for having drawn them this early in the competition. The Russians can prove to be tough customers for a number of the so-called big teams in Europe but not for this Real Madrid juggernaut thatai??i??s cruising towards the lost glory both in Spain and in Europe.
Marching towards a comfortable victory, Gonzalo Higuain put the hosts in front well in time before the Russians could muster enough courage to cause Mourinhoai??i??s men any real problems. Cristiano Ronaldoai??i??s long ranger early in the second half that took some help from poor goalkeeping, settled the tie and it was only a matter of how many more could Madrid add to the tally. Karim Benzema found the back of the net too after being brought on for Higuain while Ronaldo completed his brace in the stoppage time to take his count to 6 in this edition of the tournament.
Zoran Tosic scored a screamer for the visitors but it proved to be a mere consolation since the game was more than settled by then. With the qualification, Madrid became the second Spanish team following Barcelona in the last eight. Spain is the only country now with two representations in the last eight of the tournament adding strength to the case of La Liga being the best league in the world.
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Chelsea 4-1 Napoli
Unarguably, this was the most enthralling game of the season so far. The result in the first leg had put the tie on an even front with Chelsea needing to score two at home and hold on while Napoli needed to make their presence felt on the score-sheet to take this game farther from Chelseaai??i??s reach. All the ingredients that make football such a delightful dish were there in abundance last night at Stamford Bridge.
Chelseaai??i??s iconic nucleus of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba were up for the occasion and it is no co-incidence that each one of the three scored one goal apiece to further demonstrate to what extent does experience matter at this stage. Gokhan Inler scored a scorcher from distance to keep the tie balanced at the end of the normal time but Chelsea could hold on to their composure during the elongated period and Branislav Ivanovic found the net through a Didier Drogba assist at the stroke of half time in extra time.
Fernando Torres came on for Daniel Sturridge in the second half and despite once again failing to score, he did have a more than decent game being very dangerous on the ball. Frank Lampard ruled the midfield spraying the play across the entire breadth of the pitch while John Terry and David Luiz were successful in holding their ground against the flamboyant attacking trio of Napoli. The defence and midfield for the visitors left a lot to be desired and Christian Maggioai??i??s early substitution turned out to be a little costly for Napoli in the retrospect.
The final result once again outlined the difference between a better team and a bigger club. On paper, Napoli may win against this Chelsea side, stuck in a turmoil, six on ten times, but on nights like this, where control over oneai??i??s nerves matters more than anything, the players who have been there and done that before will always hold an edge over the ones still finding their feet on the biggest stage. Chelseaai??i??s trio have faced these situations numerous times in the past and that is exactly what helped them batter their more talented opponents at Bridge.
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Team From The Matchday (3-4-3)
Peter Cech (Chelsea); Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), John Terry (Chelsea), Phillipe Lahm (Bayern); Arjen Robben (Bayern), Kaka (Real Madrid), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille), Franck Ribery (Bayern); Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Mario Gomez (Bayern), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
