FC Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 FC Bayern Munich
This matchup between Shakhtar Donetsk and Bayern Munich took place 750 miles away from Shakhtar’s state-of-the-art Donbass Arena in Lviv, Ukraine. This was the Ukranian side’s first competitive match since December 10th. On the other hand, the German outfit was coming off of a massive 8-0 bashing of Hamburg SV in the Bundesliga. The difference in break was evident during the match as Bayern dominated a rusty Skakhtar for the majority of the game.
The first half saw the Bavarians own the better of the chances, but Shakhtar held the score to 0-0. After a fairly uneventful 45 minutes, the second half saw Bayern’s Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso get sent off in his 100th Champions League appearance in the 62nd minute. The remaining 30 minutes of the match failed to create a goal for either side and the two teams will head to the Allianz Arena with a scoreless aggregate.
Paris Saint-Germain FC 1-1 Chelsea FC
In the more entertaining match from Tuesday night, Chelsea traveled to the Parc des Princes to take on David Luiz and Paris Saint-Germain. The London side currently sits atop the Premier League, with the team from Paris sitting a disappointing third in Ligue 1. In what seemed to foreshadow the match, Chelsea’s team bus had trouble getting through the stadium before the fixture.
Despite their defensive mindset, Branislav Ivanovic headed home a Gary Cahill flick to put the visitors in front in the 36th minute. After that, PSG peppered Chelsea’s net with shots and crosses and if it was not for a heroic display from Thibault Courtois in goal, the French side would’ve ran away with this fixture (PSG took 14 shots compared to Chelsea’s two). It took 54 minutes before Edison Cavani finally equalized for PSG with a beautiful header into the side netting. That would be the last goal of the match with Chelsea scoring a vital away goal to take back to Stamford Bridge.
FC Basel 1-1 FC Porto
Image: Reuters
This matchup saw two of the smaller teams left in the tournament face each other in the Round of 16. Advancing into the quarterfinals would be a monumental achievement for either of these sides. FC Basel advanced from a group that included Real Madrid, Liverpool and Ludogorets, which was not a cakewalk to survive. FC Porto, on the other hand, advanced from a group that lacked that seemingly legendary club as they faced off against BATE, Shakhtar and Athletic Bilbao.
It took only 11 minutes for the hosts to find the back of the net as Basel’s Derlis González slid a shot past an onrushing Fabiano. For the remainder of the match, the Portuguese outfit dominated the chances. In the 48th minute, Maicon thought that he had equalized the match through a corner only to see his effort waved off by Mark Clattenburg. Basel’s Tomás Vaclik had plenty of work to do in order to keep Julen Lopetegui’s men from finding the back of the net. It appeared as if the Swiss side would hold on to this historic victory, but a late Porto penalty allowed Danilo to score the equalizer in the 79th minute. The sides will head back to Portugal even on aggregate, but with the home side having the advantage on away goals.
FC Schalke 0-2 Real Madrid
Schalke’s hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals took a major hit Wednesday night as they fell at home to Real Madrid. The German side would have been happy to improve upon the 6-1 thrashing that they suffered at the hands of the Spanish side in last year’s round of 16. Roberto Di Matteo used a very defensive game plan utilizing a five-man backline to try and fend off one of the most expensive frontlines in soccer.
You can only hope to contain Cristiano Ronaldo for so long. The Portuguese superstar finally broke the deadlock between the two sides in the 26th minute with a headed effort. This goal ended his three-game scoreless “drought” and this effectively deflated the German side. Things went from bad to worse for Schalke as their Dutch forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was forced off due to injury later on in the first half. In the second half, Huntelaar’s replacement Felix Platte created Schalke’s best chance to equalize as he struck the bar only to see the rebound effort wasted. Marcelo put the dagger in the coffin as he hit a wonder strike from the edge of the box to put the Spanish giants up 2-0 and give them a commanding lead on aggregate going back to the Santiago Bernebéu.
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