West Ham were able to secure a 1-1 draw at home to Lyon, despite Aaron Cresswell's first-half red card; Rangers lost 1-0 away to Braga in first leg of their Europa League quarter-final; Leicester held to a 0-0 at home to PSV in Europa Conference League tie
Friday 8 April 2022 10:39, UK
After their team's heroics against Sevilla at the London Stadium three weeks ago, the West Ham supporters were in full voice in anticipation of their Europa League quarter-final first leg with Lyon before kick-off. The club's first European quarter-final in 41 years. The stage was set for a special night.
Forty-five minutes later they might have feared the dream was turning into a nightmare.
Aaron Cresswell's soft but probably correct dismissal for pulling back Moussa Dembele in first-half stoppage time left David Moyes' side exposed and their hopes of progressing from this tie seriously in doubt. With a good second-half display, Lyon could potentially end the contest after one leg.
But West Ham's remaining players produced a brilliant battling display to keep the tie alive.
Incredibly, they even took the lead, with a deflected strike from talisman Jarrod Bowen sparking wild celebrations around the stadium.
But while on-loan Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele levelled for Lyon - no doubt to the amusement of some in north London - West Ham didn't fold and, with the French side pushing forwards late on, the hosts put their bodies on the line to keep it at 1-1.
The sight of Craig Dawson, with blood pouring from his nose, slamming into a tackle on Dembele summed up the spirit.
It wasn't the type of performance the West Ham supporters had hoped for before the game - Moyes was quick to point out that his side had been below-par - but it was a display which, against the odds at half-time, has set up the potential for another historic night for the club next week.
Peter Smith
Rangers need to find a way to cope without Alfredo Morelos, and fast, otherwise their whole season could fall apart in the next 10 days.
Thursday night's 1-0 defeat to Braga once again highlighted just how reliant they are on the Colombia striker, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season through injury, after a tepid performance against Celtic in Sunday's Old Firm defeat at Ibrox.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side failed to register a single shot on target in Braga with Fashion Sakala, deputising for Morelos up front, struggling to provide a focal point and sending Rangers' best opportunity well over the crossbar. Scott Arfield says they need to adapt, but there has been little sign of that over the past five days.
The result leaves them with hope ahead of the return leg at Ibrox, where it is bound to be a rip-roaring atmosphere, as the Glasgow crowd do their best to reinvigorate their team.
The next 10 days are make or break for Rangers' season, with the second leg falling just four days before the huge Scottish Cup semi-final with Celtic and the league title defence seemingly in tatters.
Zinny Boswell
Brendan Rodgers admitted he did not even know what the Europa Conference League was when Leicester dropped into the competition in December, but with his side now just three games away from their first European final, he's taking it seriously.
He named the strongest line-up he possibly could with talisman Jamie Vardy still absent through injury, and Thursday night's impressive performance against a dangerous PSV outfit highlighted Leicester's recent upturn in form.
Despite remaining in 10th place in the Premier League in what has been an underwhelming season domestically, the Foxes have recorded six wins and two draws from 11 games in all competitions. They are now unbeaten in seven matches at the King Power Stadium, with their last loss coming against Tottenham on January 19.
They were up against a PSV team who are now unbeaten in 14 games and just four points behind Erik ten Hag's Ajax in the Eredivisie title race. The Dutch giants, who won the UEFA Cup in 1978 and the European Cup 10 years later, are competing in Europe for the 48th consecutive campaign. This is Leicester's sixth season playing continental football.
Leicester's last European quarter-final was the 2017 Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid. Despite competing with Europe's elite five years ago and bowing out early from the Europa League this campaign, a first European final in the club's history is now firmly in sight.
If they can get past what will undoubtedly be a tricky test in the Netherlands next week, they will face either Bodo/Glimt or Jose Mourinho's Roma in the semi-final. With Marseille, PAOK Salonika, Feyenoord or Slavia Prague the competition's other remaining teams, last season's FA Cup winners will be confident of going all the way.
Dan Sansom
Karim Benzema reminded everyone of just how ruthless he can be at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, as he came up clutch again for Real Madrid on another huge European night.
The 34-year-old striker scored with three of his four shots in a clinical showing, which was juxtaposed by Romelu Lukaku missing two key chances at the other end after coming off the bench for Chelsea.
Benzema continues to show us that he belongs in that elite bracket of European players. Only three others - Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luiz Adriano - have managed to score back-to-back hat-tricks in the Champions League.
While the France striker will rightly get the headlines, the performance of Vincius Jr should not go unmentioned. He was constantly a thorn in the side of the Chelsea defence, and his partnership with Benzema is becoming a real problem for opponents - no two players have combined for more goals (5) in this season's competition.
Few squads have the experience to match that of this Real Madrid side - not even Chelsea, the winners of last season's competition - and it showed at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. Real, the 13-time winners of Europe's top prize, have now beaten the reigning champions of the Champions League in the last four such encounters - no side has done that more than them (6).
Last season, many pointed to Real's ageing midfield as part of the problem when they went out to Chelsea at the semi-final stage. But with Wednesday night's showing, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro, have certainly put to bed any concerns about their ability to compete at the top level.
Zinny Boswell
Saturday's humbling at the hands of Brentford was supposed to be a blip, but it was compounded by another calamitous Chelsea outing on a night of acute frustration at Stamford Bridge.
An evening which started with the reigning European champions intent at laying down a marker at the quarter-final stage, ended with a sobering Champions League clinic being administered by the 13-time winners.
Chelsea's defence - and season - hangs in the balance. With the Premier League title long gone, defending their European crown was the last big prize on offer to Thomas Tuchel's side but, now, not even the German can make a case for a comeback.
When in charge of Paris Saint-Germain, Tuchel became the only manager in Champions League history to see a two-goal first-leg lead overturned on home soil when Manchester United knocked the Parisians out at the last-16 stage of the 2018/19 campaign.
Tuchel will need no reminding of that defeat, one he labelled "painful and cruel", particularly while his latest managerial venture stoops into uncharted lows. But that is the task now placed in front of Chelsea, and the message is clear - salvage your season while they still have one.
Jack Wilkinson
It was a game short on moments of attacking quality, such was the defensive resolve of Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid at the Etihad Stadium. But then Phil Foden entered the field and all that changed. He made the difference for Manchester City.
Against tiring legs, his impact was immediate, his arrival altering the dynamic of the game in an instant. He was able to take the ball in a tight area - and there were plenty of them against this Atletico side - before finding the pass that City had been missing.
It was no coincidence. Others would have popped the ball backwards when receiving possession where he did. Foden had the technique and the sense of adventure to look forwards instead. The space did not last long but it was long enough.
It was the moment that decided the match but it was not Foden's only moment. He got away again soon after and then found the best ball of the night, bent in behind the Atletico defence with the outside of his boot to find that man De Bruyne yet again.
In a little over 20 minutes, he did enough to be the man of the match. He might even be City's best player now. Omitted from the starting line-up, he still found a way. Expect him to be in the line-up against Liverpool. Foden is just too good to be denied.
"Phil was brilliant," Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola eulogised. "He has special quality. His reception is always forward, his space in the first steps are massive, and he had incredible composure to make an incredible assist to Kevin."
To be rearranged: Wolves (a) Premier League
April 10 - Liverpool (h) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
April 13 - Atletico Madrid (a) Champions League QF second leg
April 16 - Liverpool (Wembley) FA Cup semi-finals
April 20 - Brighton (h) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
April 23 - Watford (h) Premier League
April 26/27 - Chelsea/Real Madrid (h) Champions League SF first leg *
April 30 - Leeds (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
May 3/4 - Chelsea/Real Madrid (a) Champions League SF second leg *
May 8 - Newcastle (h) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
May 14 - FA Cup final *
May 15 - West Ham (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports **
May 22 - Aston Villa (h) Premier League
May 28 - Champions League final *
* Subject to progress
** If not involved in FA Cup final
Rarely has a Champions League quarter-final had an narrative surrounding it where the next domestic league match takes priority.
That was the case for Liverpool in Benfica where Jurgen Klopp's men played with the handbrake on for large parts, with one eye on the weekend, and still managed to come away with a huge 3-1 victory. It was a result achieved without too much sweat or the usual energy expenditure you would associate with the last eight of a European game.
Klopp even managed to rest the legs of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, bringing the pair off with 30 minutes left to play. This was a pretty obvious hint that Klopp is planning to unleash both on Sunday in what is being billed as the potential title decider against Manchester City.
Interestingly, Klopp decided to keep Luiz Diaz on for the full 90 minutes. The Colombian was in dynamic mood once again, scoring the all-important third goal that restored a two-goal cushion to take back to Anfield.
Does this mean he's likely to be on the bench for Sunday with Klopp planning to play either Diogo Jota or Roberto Firmino centrally and Mane on the left of the front three? Or is Diaz such a machine, he can just go again?
In midfield Naby Keita staked a claim for one of the two midfield spots in front of Fabinho in the holding role. His passing was quick and clever and his energy to support the three front men was impressive. He managed four shots on goal in the first 14 minutes, spurning a glorious chance with his head after a great ball from Mane. There was also the assist for Diaz's goal. Klopp has some big decisions to make.
April 10 - Man City (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
April 13 - Benfica (h) Champions League QF second leg
April 16 - Man City (Wembley) FA Cup semi-finals
April 19 - Man United (h) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
April 24 - Everton (h) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
April 26/27 - Villarreal/Bayern Munich (h) Champions League SF first leg *
April 30 - Newcastle (a) Premier League
May 3/4 - Villarreal/Bayern Munich (a) Champions League SF second leg *
May 7 - Tottenham (h) Premier League
May 10 - Aston Villa (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports
May 14 - FA Cup final *
May 15 - Southampton (a) Premier League, live on Sky Sports **
May 22 - Wolves (h) Premier League
May 28 - Champions League final *
* Subject to progress
** If not involved in FA Cup final
