Dominic Solanke's first-half penalty kept Tottenham Hotspur's season alive as they defeated Eintracht Frankfurt to reach the semi-finals of the Europa League.
18 Apr 2025
Tottenham wasted several chances to take control of the tie during a 1-1 draw in the first leg last week, but in Frankfurt Ange Postecoglou's side spent large spells without the ball and under pressure.
Spurs were awarded a penalty as half-time approached when Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos mistimed his jump and clattered into James Maddison while attempting to claim a long ball forward.
Maddison's team-mates were incensed when referee Davide Massa failed to award a spot-kick, though he changed his decision after a video assistant referee (VAR) review and booked Santos.
Solanke stepped up to take the spot-kick - Postecoglou appeared to indicate he wanted the striker to take it - and stroked the ball down the middle as Santos dived to the left.
Maddison - who initially continued after receiving treatment - was replaced in first-half stoppage time by Dejan Kulusevski.
Spurs struggled to keep the ball in central areas after losing the England midfielder, and spent the first 15 minutes of the second half repelling wave after wave of Frankfurt attacks.
Though the hosts dominated possession after the break, Tottenham threatened on the counter-attack and from set-pieces.
Cristian Romero headed narrowly wide from a corner just after the hour mark, before Rodrigo Bentancur headed over from a similar situation.
Guglielmo Vicario produced a magnificent save with his legs to keep out Fares Chaibi from close range as Eintracht upped the pressure, before Leeds loanee Rasmus Kristensen dragged wide with the goal gaping following a cut-back.
Tottenham will face either Lazio or Bodo/Glimt in the final four.
Bukayo Saka scored a goal and missed a penalty as Arsenal held off Real Madrid to reach the Champions League semi-finals in an incident-packed match at the Bernabeu.
17 Apr 2025
Arsenal had a 3-0 aggregate lead to defend after their superb victory in the first leg last week - and they were given the chance to silence the noisy home support when they were awarded a 13th-minute penalty.
Saka stepped up but his weak, dinked effort was saved by Thibaut Courtois.
However, the England forward made amends for his miss when he effectively killed off the tie with a fantastic chipped second-half finish over Courtois after Mikel Merino's clever pass.
Real hit back just two minutes later when a terrible mistake from William Saliba gifted Vinicius Junior with an open goal to score.
But Real were not able to capitalise on that glimmer of hope and Gabriel Martinelli capped off a glorious night by making it 2-1 in stoppage time with a breakaway goal, again set up by Merino.
It is just the third time Arsenal have reached the semi-final stage of the Champions League and they will face Paris St-Germain in the last four.
Arsenal beat PSG 2-0 at Emirates Stadium in the league phase but Luis Enrique's French champions are much improved since then.
The home crowd in Madrid, who had built an excellent atmosphere and were hoping to spark a comeback that would be remembered for years to come, thought their side had a way back into the tie shortly after Saka's spot-kick miss when they were awarded a penalty of their own.
But a lengthy check with the video assistant referee overturned the referee's decision after Kylian Mbappe had thrown himself to the floor following minimal contact from Declan Rice.
Inter Milan booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals with a thrilling draw against Bayern Munich at San Siro Stadium.
17 Apr 2025
The Italian champions led 2-1 from the first leg but their advantage was wiped out by Harry Kane's crisp, low strike early in the second half.
That goal sparked Inter into life and just nine minutes later they were in front on the night and in complete control of the tie.
First, Lautaro Martinez lashed home from six yards as the ball dropped kindly for him from a corner.
Three minutes later, another corner and this time defender Benjamin Pavard powered in a header from Hakan Calhanoglu's delivery.
Bayern did not give up though, and with 14 minutes remaining they drew level thanks to Eric Dier's looping back-post header from a tight angle.
Vincent Kompany's side pushed for a third goal to force extra time, and in the fifth of six added minutes the chance came but Thomas Muller could not direct his header past Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
Tensions were running high with time ticking away and Bayern substitute Josip Stanisic shoved a ballboy off his stool after he threw the ball away to waste some time.
Stanisic spoke of his regret post-match: "Every team in the world wastes time when they're leading. It was a bit stupid of me to push him there."
Despite the late scare, it is Inter who progress to face Barcelona in a tantalising last-four tie.
Aston Villa threatened to pull off a stunning comeback against Paris St-Germain before going out of the Champions League on a dramatic night at Villa Park.
16 Apr 2025
Villa were attempting to overturn a 3-1 deficit to reach the semi-final but their hopes looked in tatters when they were two goals down inside the first half-hour
Achraf Hakimi cashed in on Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez's mistake to put PSG ahead, then Nuno Mendes doubled the French side's lead to leave Villa needing to score at least four goals.
In a thunderous Villa Park atmosphere, Unai Emery's team refused to yield and launched a magnificent response to put this hugely talented PSG side on the rack.
Youri Tielemans pulled one back after 34 minutes with a deflected shot before a second half of pure theatre unfolded in front a frenzied Villa Park.
Villa struck twice in two minutes to spark hopes of a remarkable revival, John McGinn scoring from 20 yards after 55 minutes before defender Ezri Konsa put them ahead on the night after fantastic work by Marcus Rashford.
And, as Villa's belief grew, it took three crucial saves from PSG keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to stop them drawing level in the tie.
He dived high to his left to magnificently claw away Rashford's rising drive, then somehow turned out Tielemans' header before saving at the feet of substitute Marco Asensio.
PSG managed to regain a measure of composure to hold on and will meet Arsenal or Real Madrid in the semi-final.
Borussia Dortmund could not recover from a first-leg demolition by Barcelona to reach the Champions League semi-finals, despite winning a thrilling return tie thanks to Serhou Guirassy's hat-trick.
16 Apr 2025
The Catalan giants appeared to have all-but confirmed their place in the last four for the first time since 2019 following their crushing 4-0 win at home.
But Dortmund put up a brave effort to come so close to a stunning turnaround in a dramatic second leg.
They planted a seed of doubt in Barca's minds when Guirassy cheekily chipped a 'Panenka' penalty over Wojciech Szczesny in the 11th minute after the Polish keeper had brought down Pascal Gross.
The Guinea striker then halved the deficit four minutes after the break, but Dortmund's dreams looked to have been dashed when Ramy Bensebaini sliced into his own goal just five minutes later to give the Spanish side a three-goal lead on aggregate.
After an enormous effort, where they created and missed a host of chances and had a Gross goal ruled out for offside, it seemed like the energy had drained from the hosts before Guirassy gave them late hope and a fighting chance.
He completed his hat-trick in the 76th minute by smashing a poor clearance into the roof of the Barcelona net.
Substitute Julian Brandt then broke clear to rifle past Szczesny, but his side's celebrations were cut short by an offside flag.
It was a fabulous fightback, but Barcelona held on to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since they let slip a three-goal lead in Liverpool's famous second-leg comeback at Anfield six years ago.
They will face either Inter Milan or Bayern Munich, with the Italian side taking a 2-1 lead back to the San Siro for Wednesday's second leg.