Here, we take a look at all the action from the first legs of the Quarter-finals of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal FC 3-0 Real Madrid CF
An incredible second-half performance, featuring two of the best free kicks the Emirates Stadium has ever witnessed, made for a magical Champions League night as Declan Rice’s first career brace helped Arsenal beat Real Madrid in the first leg.
The match at the Emirates had been keenly anticipated ever since the potential route to the final was mapped out, and the expectation levels reached new heights as the players took the field. However, the atmosphere nearly fell flat inside the first 40 seconds as Kylian Mbappé pounced on a moment of hesitation in the Arsenal defence and got his shot away, but David Raya was up to the challenge. The game continued at a blistering pace, with both teams trying to figure each other out.
At the half-hour mark, Mbappé had a great chance to score the opener. The Frenchman had time to pick his spot but Raya was equal to his low shot. Following Arsenal’s bright start, the Real Madrid forwards were beginning to make their presence known. Bukayo Saka, back in the starting lineup for the first time since December, caused havoc with two quality crosses that went completely through the corridor of uncertainty and out the other end. Both he and Gabriel Martinelli were looking threatening in wide positions in an open, flowing game.
Arsenal’s next attack came from the right as Jurriën Timber swung a cross into the middle, but Mikel Merino’s header was palmed away by Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian keeper also managed to keep out Martinelli’s follow-up as the Gunners went into the break with their tails up.
Chances continued to flow in the second half. Mbappé fired into the side netting at one end, while Rice was denied by a sliding block. But he was not to be denied when Arsenal won a free kick ten yards outside the area when Saka was brought down. The English midfielder stepped up and curled an incredible strike around the wall and just inside the post. He set his strike a good yard outside Courtois’ left-hand post, but the whip and power on his shot brought it back on target, giving the keeper no chance as the Emirates erupted.
On top of proceedings, Arsenal went hunting for a second. Incredibly, three great chances within a space of ten seconds were kept out by desperate defending from Los Blancos. First, a shot by Martinelli was parried by Courtois. The rebound fell to Merino, who caught it sweetly only for David Alaba to clear the ball off the line. Courtois got up again to turn away Merino’s next shot.
Rice then had a shot blocked on the line by Bellingham. It was one-way traffic, and then the second goal came from another free kick. This, arguably, was even better. It was on the other side of the penalty arc—a good five or six yards outside the box. Rice rattled his right-footed shot straight into the top corner.
It went from bad to worse for Real Madrid when Arsenal youngster Miles Lewis-Skelly ran at their shell-shocked defence and squared the ball to Merino, who tucked home a first-time left-footed shot—almost nonchalantly, but powerfully—into the bottom corner.
The atmosphere inside the stadium reached new levels. The 15-time and reigning European champions, looking to reach the last four for a fifth consecutive season, were on the ropes. While many expected a response from them, there was none arriving. One man who won’t be playing in the second leg is Eduardo Camavinga, who after picking up a caution—that would have resulted in a one-game ban anyway— collected a second yellow for kicking the ball away.
Arsenal are now well-placed to reach their third-ever Champions League semi-finals—their first in 16 years.
FC Bayern Munich 1-2 FC Internazionale Milano
Davide Frattesi grabbed a late winner as Inter Milan snatched a 2-1 victory at the Allianz Arena.
The hosts dominated the opening half hour, with England captain Harry Kane curling an effort against the right-hand post, but they fell behind to Inter’s first shot on target. The Serie A leaders scored a fine goal at the end of an excellent team move in the 38th minute. Marcus Thuram showed great skill to jump and flick the ball into Lautaro Martínez’s path. The Argentine striker fired his effort with the outside of the boot into the roof of the net.
Bayern regained control of the game in the early stages of the second half but remained vulnerable on the counter. Inter spurned a good chance as Thuram burst clear down the left but failed to find Martínez with his cross this time. Bayern themselves came close to equalising twice just after the hour mark as Josip Stanišic headed off-target before Raphaël Guerreiro volleyed narrowly over.
The home side carved out another opening when Michael Olise picked out Konrad Laimer, but his cut-back bobbled and Kane could not direct his shot on goal. However, Laimer’s delivery was much better five minutes from time as he curled a cross to the far post from the right and substitute Thomas Müller made no mistake from close range.
Müller’s leveller, arriving in the 85th minute, looked to have saved Bayern from defeat. But there was to be another twist with just two minutes left, when Inter quickly broke up the field and Carlos Augusto’s cross was converted by substitute Frattesi to ensure the Italians left Germany with a crucial advantage.
This defeat also ended Bayern’s 22-match unbeaten home run in the Champions League, dating back to 2021.
Paris Saint-Germain FC 3-1 Aston Villa FC
Playing at home, PSG started with a lot of intent and attacked in waves, but they weren’t able to breach the Villa defence right away. It was the Villans who drew first blood in the 35th minute when John McGinn nicked the ball off Nuno Mendes and made a forward pass to Marcus Rashford, who found an overlapping Youri Tielemans, who then crossed towards the far post to an onrushing Morgan Rogers and he buried the chance, stunning the PSG faithful into silence. The dangerous Désiré Doué levelled four minutes later for the hosts with a curling shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.
The hosts came back out recharged for the second half and soon took the lead through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, whose powerful near-post shot hit the woodwork and went in. The hosts could have scored more if not for Villa keeper Emi Martínez. However, late into stoppage time, the Villa defence switched off and Kvaratskhelia, tracking Nuno Mendes’ run, passed to him into the box. The Portuguese switched onto his right foot, beat his marker, and scored his side’s third goal of the night.
With a two-goal advantage heading into the second leg, PSG have one foot firmly planted in the semi-finals. It was a deserved win for the Parisians, who appear to be hitting top form at just the right moment. Aston Villa now face an uphill battle on home soil.
FC Barcelona 4-0 Borussia Dortmund
Barcelona have been one of the standout teams of this Champions League campaign and they didn’t disappoint in this game either. The two sides had faced each other in the league stage as well, with the Catalan giants edging out BVB in an exciting 3-2 win that day.
Playing at home against an injury-hit Dortmund side, the Blaugrana took control of proceedings from the word go, with teenager Lamine Yamal looking particularly dangerous. Yamal and Robert Lewandowski had decent chances to give Barça the lead but were denied by Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel. However, their efforts were rewarded in the 25th minute when Raphinha bundled in Pau Cubarsí’s shot. The Brazilian had a golden opportunity to double the lead from a superb Yamal pass but couldn’t get a proper touch on the ball. Dortmund, meanwhile, barely had a chance at the opposite end.
The hosts then turned the screws in the second half. Three minutes after the restart, Yamal found Raphinha at the far post and his header across goal was headed in from close range by Lewandowski to double Barça’s lead. Their third came from a counter-attacking move as Yamal linked up with Fermín López, whose cut-back found Lewandowski for a drilled low shot into the net in the 66th minute. The hosts’ fourth goal must have felt like a dagger through the Dortmund hearts as Lewandowski stole the ball in the middle of the pitch and found Raphinha, who teed up Yamal in the 77th minute.
It was a flawless performance from Barça, who have firmly established themselves as one of the prime contenders for the Champions League crown this season. Judging by this display, stopping them will be no mean task. As for Dortmund, they’ll need nothing short of a miracle in the second leg to overturn the daunting four-goal deficit.
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