Big wins for Arsenal and Barcelona; Real Madrid in danger: 2024-25 Champions League QF Roundup

2024-25 UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final Leg 1 Roundup: Arsenal, Barcelona, PSG, and Inter gain advantage

Declan Rice tilted the tie in favor of Arsenal

The 2024-25 UEFA Champions League continues to grab the eyeballs after a unique league stage determined the 24 teams which would move to the next stage, which were further trimmed to 16 and 8 and will now be narrowed down to the final four sides after the second leg of the quarter-finals. 

Talking about the first legs of the four quarter-final, there was a lot of joy for the hosts at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday while Bayern Munich suffered a defeat in front of their fans. On Wednesday, Barcelona thrashed Borussia Dortmund while PSG edged Aston Villa and would now travel to Birmingham with a 2-goal lead in hand. 

Let’s check out how the action unfolded over the course of two days, which could prove crucial in deciding the winner of the 2024-25 UCL season:

Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid

Before the match kicked off, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta called this the biggest match of his managerial career as the Gunners hosted European champions Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening.

From the get-go, Los Blancos were showing their nerves as a clearance from Antonio Rudiger hit Eduardo Camavinga before harmlessly going out for a corner. At the half-hour mark, Jude Bellingham played a through ball for Kylian Mbappe, but the striker failed to beat David Raya in the opposition goal.

In the 44th minute, the returning Thibaut Courtois made a double save to deny both Declan Rice and Gabriel Martinelli as both sides went into the changing rooms at a scoreline of 0-0.

Bukayo Saka continued to trouble the Madrid defense, forcing David Alaba to concede a free-kick in the 57th minute, which was converted by Rice as the midfielder curled the ball into the back of the net.

Around ten minutes later, Martinelli found himself unmarked in the opposition penalty area, but the forward’s shot was thwarted away by Courtois. The rebound then fell to Mikel Merino who tried to find the bottom corner, but Alaba made a goal-line clearance followed by another brilliant save by Courtois to deny Merino his first goal on the evening.

Saka kept dribbling around the opposition box, and it finally paid off as Alaba found the forward and allowed Rice to have another go at the goal. The Arsenal midfielder found the top corner, bamboozling Courtois as Arsenal raced into a 2-0 lead, with the Belgian goalkeeper conceding none of those goals from open play.

Arteta’s men further piled more misery on Carlo Ancelotti and his side as Merino found the back of the net to make it 3-0, and Camavinga was sent off in the dying embers of the first leg, which makes the French midfielder unavailable for the home leg at Santiago Bernabeu.

Bayern Munich 1-2 Inter

In Munich, Bayern started on the front foot and could have taken the lead in the 25th minute when Harry Kane struck the woodwork, but the ball went out for a goal kick instead. 12 minutes later, Lautaro Martinez did what he does best as the Argentine striker started and finished a slick team move to give the visitors the lead before the half-time break.

Martinez tried to double his side’s lead on the other side of the break but goalkeeper Jonas Urbig denied the Inter striker at the near post. Finally, in the 85th minute, Thomas Muller found himself unmarked, and the Raumdeuter found the back of the net from 3 yards courtesy of a brilliant Konrad Laimer cross.

Vincent Kompany must have thought that his side would go level into the second leg but Davide Frattesi found the back of the net in the 88th minute to silence the home crowd and help his side go back to Italy with a 1-goal advantage in the bag.

Paris St. Germain 3-1 Aston Villa

Luis Enrique’s Paris St. Germain ruled the roost in the home leg

Aston Villa’s return to Europe’s elite club competition took a wild turn when Unai Emery returned to the club he managed for two seasons. Emiliano Martinez had to be at his best from the first whistle as the hosts launched attack after attack in the initial minutes of the match.

Against the run of play, John McGinn won possession, and Marcus Rashford helped the ball on with the most deft touch, allowing Youri Tielemans to lay the ball on the plate for Morgan Rogers, who shocked the city of Paris with a 1-0 lead for the visitors.

The happiness didn’t last long though as Desire Doue found the top corner totally outfoxing Martinez and equalizing for Luis Enrique’s men within four minutes of the first goal, keeping the score 1-1 at half-time.

Within 200 seconds of the restart, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scored a wonder goal as the Georgian danced past Villa defenders before firing into the near post to give the hosts the lead in the first leg.

Achraf Hakimi thought that he had doubled PSG’s lead at the 70-minute mark, but the offside flag saved Emery’s men. In injury time, Ousmane Dembele played a through ball for Nuno Mendes, who also found the top corner, helping PSG take a 2-goal lead to Birmingham next week.

Barcelona 4-0 Borussia Dortmund

Hansi Flick has transformed Barcelona into a winning machine, and the Catalans proved that at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium with a 4-0 thrashing of Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.

In the 25th minute, Raphinha scored the first goal of the evening from a set-piece routine as Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi combined to outfox the goalkeeper, but the Brazilian forward touched the ball before it crossed the goal line.

A couple of minutes into the second half, Lamine Yamal found Raphinha, whose header was headed into the back of the net by Robert Lewandowski, who scored against his former side for the 28th time.

After hitting the woodwork, Fermin Lopez was at the heart of things yet again as he laid off the ball for Lewandowski after a 50-yard run, and the Polish striker completed a brace against his former team. 

In the 77th minute, Raphinha found Yamal through on goal, and the teenager scored the goal to put the tie beyond any doubt and make the trip to Germany a mere formality next week.