By Morganne Guhl
The round of 16 has wrapped up in the Champions League, and the quarter-final matches are set. There were several surprising results in the round of 16.
Tottenham Hotspurs crashed out after a nil-nil draw with AC Milan, Milan going through on a single goal from the first game. Similar results allow Inter Milan to go through over Porta. Chelsea turned around their poor form and beat Borussia Dortmund two-nil. Benfica and Napoli continue their impressive run demolishing Club Brugge and Eintracht Frankfurt. Manchester City destroyed RB Leipzig after controversial calls went in City’s favor. Bayern stood firm and beat PSG three-nil, dumping out Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
The draw for the quarter-finals brought forth some tantalizing matches. One side of the bracket has three Italian teams, Inter Milan, AC Milan, and Napoli, along with Benfica from Portugal.
AC Milan will face their domestic competitor in Napoli. Napoli is the tournament’s dark horse, destroying teams from across Europe. If their current form continues, they will make it to the final in the club’s history for the first time. Inter Milan verse Benfica is an exciting draw. Inter Milan is the more historic team. However, Benfica’s form has been strong throughout the tournament, even holding PSG to a draw over two games in the group stage.
The other side of the bracket contains the three teams that have won the Champions League in the last three years, Real Madrid, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich. Manchester City is also part of the bracket. The City is the favorite to win the competition for the first time after adding wonder striker Erling Haaland.
The Champions League will kick off again on the 11 of April. Real Madrid will face Chelsea, a match-up familiar to both sides after multiple face-offs over the last several years in the tournament. It’s still to be determined if the magic of Real Madrid in the Champions League will carry them over Chelsea after both teams have shacky domestic league form continues. Finally, the match that most neutrals will have their eyes on is Man City against Bayern. While Man City is the favorite again this year, they have crashed out of the competition painfully multiple times in recent years, which makes these matches closer to 50/50.