Chelsea, City and Spurs were all up against it from the first leg, with the trio having trailed by three goals after their respective first legs against Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. There would be no such ‘remontada’, whereas Newcastle had gone into their second leg level on aggregate with Barcelona, but slipped to a defeat against the La Liga giants.
There had been a fear that Liverpool, who trailed 1-0 heading into their second leg against Galatasaray, might fall to a similar feat, but Arne Slot’s side kept their nerve to get past the Turkish side.
Arsenal were perhaps the only English side who had a comfortable week or so of Champions League action, having escaped the first leg vs Bayer Leverkusen intact, without having to expend too much energy. In the return leg at the Emirates Stadium, Mikel Arteta’s side kept it simple and defeated the Bundesliga outfit 3-0 on the night to secure progression into the last eight.
Their reward will be a two-legged tie against Portuguese outfit Sporting, who Arsenal met in the last-16 of the Europa League three years ago. The pair were also drawn against each other in the league phase last season, with Arsenal running out 5-1 winners in Lisbon.
Arsenal will be licking their lips with the draw, and will fancy their chances of progressing to yet another Champions League semi-final. Last year the north Londoners were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain, who also beat Liverpool during last season’s edition.
And it will be yet another visit to Merseyside for the 2025 winners, as they look to replicate their heroics of 12 months prior. Luis Enrique’s side came through the tie on penalties last season, before going on to beat Aston Villa, Arsenal and then Inter Milan en route to a maiden European triumph.
Champions League quarter-final draw in full:
Real Madrid vs Bayern Munich
Liverpoolvs Paris Saint-Germain
Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid
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