Around the Champions League: Round of 16 Leg 1 Recap
It was an exciting first leg during the Round of 16 in the Champions League. Let’s catch up on all of the action.
AC Milan hosted Tottenham to open the Round of 16. The red and black pressured the Hotspurs from the initial kickoff and got rewarded in the seventh minute.
Fraser Forster made two consecutive saves but could not corral the ball as it popped into the air, and Brahim Díaz headed it in to score the game's only goal.
Charles De Ketelaere and Malick Thiaw had excellent chances to extend AC Milan’s lead but failed to convert.
The closest Tottenham would come to an equalizer would be a Harry Kane strike that hit the crossbar, but after replay, had Kane converted, the goal would have been disallowed anyway for offsides.
There was a rematch of the 2020 Champions League Final as Paris Saint-Germain hosted Bayern Munich.
Just like in the 2020 final, history repeated itself as Kingsley Coman scored the game's lone goal to secure the 1-0 win for Bayern Munich.
In the 53rd minute, Coman struck a volley that skipped past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Kylian Mbappé thought he had scored the equalizer twice for Paris Saint-Germain, but both goals were disallowed for offsides.
In the 90th+2, Benjamin Pavard picked up a red card which will force him to miss the second leg.
Borussia Dortmund hosted Chelsea in a game full of young stars. The brightest star shone black and yellow as 20-year-old Karim Adeyemi scored the game's lone goal for Borussia Dortmund.
In the 63rd minute, Adeyemi picked up the ball in the midfield, sprinted past the defense and danced around Kepa Arrizabalaga before slotting it into the open net.
Chelsea had plenty of chances to score but could not solve Gregor Kobel, who finished with eight saves and a clean sheet.
Benfica traveled to Jan Breydelstadion to take on Club Brugge.
Benfica dominated early, producing plenty of dangerous chances but could not find the back of the net.
In the 51st minute, Brugge defender Jack Hendry took down Gonçalo Ramos with a poor challenge inside the box. João Mário took a stutter step before blasting a shot off the crossbar and in to give Benfica the 1-0.
The Eagles continued to push for a second goal and received it in the 88th minute.
Another mistake from the Brugge defense, this time from Bjron Meijer, as his failed clearance gave David Neres a prime scoring opportunity that he did not miss, securing Benfica the 2-0 victory.
The following week's slate kicked off with Eintracht Frankfurt hosting Napoli.
Napoli dominated the game from the start, and in the 40th minute, Victor Osimhen tapped in a Hirving Lozano cross to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.
In the 58th minute, Randal Kolo Muani picked up a red card for an errant challenge on André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, which will force him to miss the second leg.
In the 65th minute, Giovanni Di Lorenzo doubled Napoli’s advantage with a beautiful curling shot into the bottom left corner.
In a rematch of last year’s Champions League final, Liverpool hosted Real Madrid.
The Reds got off to a quick start as Darwin Nunez scored just four minutes before Mohamed Salah doubled their advantage in the 14th minute off an awful mistake from Thibaut Courtois.
Real Madrid cut Liverpool's lead in half in the 21st minute on a fantastic Vinícius Júnior strike from inside the box. Júnior struck again just 15 minutes later after a clearance from Alisson hit off Júnior and landed in the net.
Éder Militão scored off a Luka Modrić set piece just two minutes into the second half. Before the reigning Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema scored in the 55th and 67th minute to secure Real Madrid's 5-2 victory.
Inter Milan hosted FC Porto in a tightly contested affair.
Both sides had plenty of chances but were stymied by excellent goalkeeping from Andre Onana and Diogo Costa, respectively.
The game seemed destined to finish in a 0-0 draw, but that all changed in the 78th minute when Otávio received a straight red card for an awful challenge on Hakan Calhanoglu.
Inter Milan pressed offensively with FC Porto down to 10 men and got the goal they desired in the 86th minute when Romelu Lukaku sent a volley past Costa.
RB Leipzig hosted Manchester in the only draw from the first leg.
In the 27th minute, Riyad Mahrez scored the lone goal for Manchester City after receiving a beautiful backheel touch pass from İlkay Gündoğan.
While Joško Gvardiol scored RB Leipzig's only goal off a header in the 70th minute.
The Champions League will return on March 7 with the second leg of the Round of 16 matchups.
Ben Palillo is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email bgp5079@psu.edu.
