The small FC Villarreal is becoming more and more of a favorite fright. Three weeks following the Spaniards knocked out Juventus Turin in the round of 16, the “yellow submarine” also shocked the big FC Bayern.
After just eight minutes, the 23,500 spectators in the Estadio de la Cerámica went nuts for the first time. Villarreal striker Danjuma deflected a shot from Parejo past Neuer and surprisingly put Bayern in reserve. The German record champion remained without a goal for the entire first half.
Goretzka bleeding on the ground
Bayern were lucky that Moreno hit the post in the 53rd minute. Shortly therefollowing, Manuel Neuer, who had rushed out of the goal, made a blunder when he played a pass straight into the feet of the Spanish striker. But his shot from the center line sailed past the empty Bayern goal.
With the 0:1, the Germans were still well served in the end. Even if there was almost a penalty whistle for Bayern in injury time. Goretzka was elbowed by Torres, sustained a laceration and had to come off the field. However, the referee’s whistle remained silent.
In the round of 16, Karim Benzema single-handedly knocked PSG out of the Champions League with a hat-trick. And the Frenchman also became a big figure in the quarter-final first leg away at Chelsea. In the 21st minute, the striker nodded off following a nice one-two with Vinicius Junior to give Real Madrid the lead, three minutes later he also headed the ball to make it 2-0 following a dream cross from Modric. Before the double strike, Vinicius had failed with his flick on the crossbar.
Just before the break, Havertz brought the hosts back up from close range. But just a few seconds following the restart, Chelsea goalie Mendy made a total dropout. Who benefited? Benzema, of course – 3-1 to Real Madrid! The English mightn’t find a suitable answer to that throughout the second half. The royals are probably already with one foot in the semifinals.
