Champions Leagues Update - See All the Action
An excellent performance by the French club, Paris Saint-Germain, resulted in a confident victory over Chelsea by the hosts.
The Blues lost 3-1 with Eden Hazard scoring for the guests (27`), and Ezequiel Lavezzi (4`), Javier Pastore (90+3`) for the Parisians. Chelsea's David Luiz scored an auto-goal on the 61st minute.
Ezequiel Lavezzi opened the scoring for Laurent Blanc's hosts on four minutes with a sweetly-struck half-volley, but Eden Hazard kept his cool from the penalty spot on 27 to draw Jose Mourinho's men level.
Hazard hit the upright in a lively first half for the Belgian playmaker - but the Parisians gained a first-leg lead to take to London next Tuesday when David Luiz turned a free-kick from Lavezzi into his own net just after the hour mark.
The visitors tried to ensure PSG only had a one-goal advantage as they defended deep in the closing stages - but a magical run from Javier Pastore in stoppage-time saw him jink past three Chelsea defenders before steering a low drive past Petr Cech at his near post to make it 3-1 on the night.
Chelsea got off to the worst possible start as PSG were ahead early on, when Blaise Matuidi's left-wing cross was superbly controlled by Lavezzi, who thumped a left-footed half-volley into the roof of the net from 16 yards.
Luiz's scuffed shot was easily saved on 18 minutes by Salvatore Sirigu, while the lively Lavezzi fired into the sidenetting under pressure from Gary Cahill.
Chelsea slowly recovered their composure and were awarded a penalty on 27 minutes when Thiago Silva clumsily fouled Oscar in the 18-yard box, giving referee Milorad Mazic no option but to point to the spot. Hazard made no mistake with the spot-kick, rolling the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
The equaliser saw the visitors take control of proceedings, but the hosts were still a threat on the break, with Cech saving Lavezzi's low shot on 31.
Hazard nearly grabbed a second goal of the night after sweetly volleying a cross from Willian, only to see his left-footed strike smack the upright.
Edinson Cavani appealed for a penalty just before the break after going down under close attention from Cahill, but Mazic was unmoved and waved away the hosts' protests.
In the second half, Lavezzi continued to pose a threat, steering a header from a left-wing cross inches over the crossbar.
And it was the Argentina striker who created PSG's second goal on 62 minutes, when his free-kick into the heart of the Chelsea penalty box ricocheted off the unlucky Luiz's shin yards from goal and rolled into the net.
That goal came minutes after Mourinho had replaced Andre Schurrle with striker Fernando Torres.
A more interesting substitution came on 68 when Zlatan Ibrahimovic went off with what looked like a pulled muscle, to be replaced by Lucas Moura. The second leg takes place at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday night.
Mourinho's men will have plenty of work to keep their hopes of advancing alive next week at Stamford Bridge. It will be a real test for them.
*
Jurgen Klopp's side had no answer to the attacking trio and face a near impossible task to reach the semi-finals of the competition after a devastating first-leg defeat from Real Madrid. Gareth Bale (3`), Isco (27`) and C. Ronaldo (57`) were the heroes of the evening.
Gareth Bale got things rolling with the opening goal inside three minutes and Isco added a second before Cristiano Ronaldo continued his stunning form in the competition with Madrid's third just before the hour.
That saw Ronaldo equal the Champions League record of 14 goals in a season and made Madrid firm favourites to progress through and avenge last season's semi-final exit at the hands of Dortmund.
Carlo Ancelotti's men could have added even more goals but found Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller in fine form, while the under-strength visitors failed to find the away goal which could have put a very different complexion on things for the return leg at the Westfalenstadion.
Madrid suffered a blow just hours before kick-off when winger Angel Di Maria was ruled out through illness, but the Spanish giants did not seem to miss the Argentinian with his replacement, Isco, impressing.
Bale's early goal would also have helped.
Karim Benzema fed the ball into Daniel Carvajal inside the area and the full-back immediately played it into Bale's path, with the Wales international taking one touch before poking it past Weidenfeller.
That was just the start Dortmund, without six players including suspended star striker Robert Lewandowski, would have been hoping to avoid - and it got worse 23 minutes later when Isco made it 2-0.
Weidenfeller had already done superbly to tip over Ronaldo's free-kick but he was powerless to keep out Isco's side-footed effort after Dortmund had been robbed of possession near their own box.
With their tails up, Madrid pushed for more goals in a bid to kill the tie off even before they travel to Germany, and Weidenfeller produced another superb save to push over Bale's dipping free-kick before the Dortmund keeper denied the world's most expensive player with an outstretched foot at the start of the second half.
Dortmund briefly threatened immediately after that but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dragged his shot wide and Madrid then made it 3-0 just before the hour.
Luka Modric picked out the run of Ronaldo into the area and the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner showed great feet to take the ball in his stride, slip it past Weidenfeller and side-foot it into an empty net - matching the tournament record of goals in the same season.
Knowing their chances of going through were in danger of being sunk before the second leg, Dortmund pushed for an away goal but a superb block from Pepe denied Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Iker Casillas produced a brave point-blank save from Marco Reus.
But as they pushed forward, Dortmund could also have conceded more and would have been grateful to see Weidenfeller tip over Benzema's shot and see Bale blaze over after a good run.
Dortmund can take some solace from the fact they beat Madrid 4-1 at home in last year's semi-finals, and the four-goal hero of that game Lewandowski will be available again, but even a repeat of that scoreline would not be enough to send them through following this result
This is the revenge by the Royal Club, which was kicked out of the tournament by Borussia Dortmund at the semi-final stage one year ago.
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/63532.html
The Blues lost 3-1 with Eden Hazard scoring for the guests (27`), and Ezequiel Lavezzi (4`), Javier Pastore (90+3`) for the Parisians. Chelsea's David Luiz scored an auto-goal on the 61st minute.
Ezequiel Lavezzi opened the scoring for Laurent Blanc's hosts on four minutes with a sweetly-struck half-volley, but Eden Hazard kept his cool from the penalty spot on 27 to draw Jose Mourinho's men level.
Hazard hit the upright in a lively first half for the Belgian playmaker - but the Parisians gained a first-leg lead to take to London next Tuesday when David Luiz turned a free-kick from Lavezzi into his own net just after the hour mark.
The visitors tried to ensure PSG only had a one-goal advantage as they defended deep in the closing stages - but a magical run from Javier Pastore in stoppage-time saw him jink past three Chelsea defenders before steering a low drive past Petr Cech at his near post to make it 3-1 on the night.
Chelsea got off to the worst possible start as PSG were ahead early on, when Blaise Matuidi's left-wing cross was superbly controlled by Lavezzi, who thumped a left-footed half-volley into the roof of the net from 16 yards.
Luiz's scuffed shot was easily saved on 18 minutes by Salvatore Sirigu, while the lively Lavezzi fired into the sidenetting under pressure from Gary Cahill.
Chelsea slowly recovered their composure and were awarded a penalty on 27 minutes when Thiago Silva clumsily fouled Oscar in the 18-yard box, giving referee Milorad Mazic no option but to point to the spot. Hazard made no mistake with the spot-kick, rolling the ball into the bottom left-hand corner.
The equaliser saw the visitors take control of proceedings, but the hosts were still a threat on the break, with Cech saving Lavezzi's low shot on 31.
Hazard nearly grabbed a second goal of the night after sweetly volleying a cross from Willian, only to see his left-footed strike smack the upright.
Edinson Cavani appealed for a penalty just before the break after going down under close attention from Cahill, but Mazic was unmoved and waved away the hosts' protests.
In the second half, Lavezzi continued to pose a threat, steering a header from a left-wing cross inches over the crossbar.
And it was the Argentina striker who created PSG's second goal on 62 minutes, when his free-kick into the heart of the Chelsea penalty box ricocheted off the unlucky Luiz's shin yards from goal and rolled into the net.
That goal came minutes after Mourinho had replaced Andre Schurrle with striker Fernando Torres.
A more interesting substitution came on 68 when Zlatan Ibrahimovic went off with what looked like a pulled muscle, to be replaced by Lucas Moura. The second leg takes place at Stamford Bridge next Tuesday night.
Mourinho's men will have plenty of work to keep their hopes of advancing alive next week at Stamford Bridge. It will be a real test for them.
*
Jurgen Klopp's side had no answer to the attacking trio and face a near impossible task to reach the semi-finals of the competition after a devastating first-leg defeat from Real Madrid. Gareth Bale (3`), Isco (27`) and C. Ronaldo (57`) were the heroes of the evening.
Gareth Bale got things rolling with the opening goal inside three minutes and Isco added a second before Cristiano Ronaldo continued his stunning form in the competition with Madrid's third just before the hour.
That saw Ronaldo equal the Champions League record of 14 goals in a season and made Madrid firm favourites to progress through and avenge last season's semi-final exit at the hands of Dortmund.
Carlo Ancelotti's men could have added even more goals but found Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller in fine form, while the under-strength visitors failed to find the away goal which could have put a very different complexion on things for the return leg at the Westfalenstadion.
Madrid suffered a blow just hours before kick-off when winger Angel Di Maria was ruled out through illness, but the Spanish giants did not seem to miss the Argentinian with his replacement, Isco, impressing.
Bale's early goal would also have helped.
Karim Benzema fed the ball into Daniel Carvajal inside the area and the full-back immediately played it into Bale's path, with the Wales international taking one touch before poking it past Weidenfeller.
That was just the start Dortmund, without six players including suspended star striker Robert Lewandowski, would have been hoping to avoid - and it got worse 23 minutes later when Isco made it 2-0.
Weidenfeller had already done superbly to tip over Ronaldo's free-kick but he was powerless to keep out Isco's side-footed effort after Dortmund had been robbed of possession near their own box.
With their tails up, Madrid pushed for more goals in a bid to kill the tie off even before they travel to Germany, and Weidenfeller produced another superb save to push over Bale's dipping free-kick before the Dortmund keeper denied the world's most expensive player with an outstretched foot at the start of the second half.
Dortmund briefly threatened immediately after that but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dragged his shot wide and Madrid then made it 3-0 just before the hour.
Luka Modric picked out the run of Ronaldo into the area and the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner showed great feet to take the ball in his stride, slip it past Weidenfeller and side-foot it into an empty net - matching the tournament record of goals in the same season.
Knowing their chances of going through were in danger of being sunk before the second leg, Dortmund pushed for an away goal but a superb block from Pepe denied Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Iker Casillas produced a brave point-blank save from Marco Reus.
But as they pushed forward, Dortmund could also have conceded more and would have been grateful to see Weidenfeller tip over Benzema's shot and see Bale blaze over after a good run.
Dortmund can take some solace from the fact they beat Madrid 4-1 at home in last year's semi-finals, and the four-goal hero of that game Lewandowski will be available again, but even a repeat of that scoreline would not be enough to send them through following this result
This is the revenge by the Royal Club, which was kicked out of the tournament by Borussia Dortmund at the semi-final stage one year ago.
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/63532.html
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