Juventus pick apart a shattered Borussia Dortmund in Germany while Barcelona oust Manchester City thanks to some goalkeeping heroics from second-choice ter Stegen to round off the Spanish-dominated quarterfinal teams.
Borussia Dortmund 0-3 Juventus (1-5 aggregate)
While Jurgen Klopp was cautiously optimistic about his side’s chances of coming back from a 2-1 deficit against Juventus following an unconvincing performance in Turin in the first leg. While Dortmund have enjoyed somewhat of a rebound in the Bundesliga, escaping the relegation zone to a more comfortable tenth place, the reigning Italian champions fronted by the lethal combination of Carlos Tevez and Alvaro Morata proved to be too much and the better team marched on to the quarterfinals.
Juventus set the tone for the match three minutes in when Tevez netted a powerful strike from just outside the box. Harsher critics suggested that Weidenfeller should have reacted sooner but the skilled Argentine put good pace and a bit of a swerve on the shot to send it careening into the goal. While Dortmund worked the ball well, they failed to have the speed and organization necessary to both attack a goal guarded by the legendary Buffon and defend their own. In the 25th minute the visitors suffered a significant blow when Paul Pogba suffered a hamstring injury. Pogba had been a primary orchestrator in the rapid counter attacks that Juve used to test Weidenfeller and his defense.
After a relatively quiet first half played out through the midfield, the two sides went into the break with Dortmund’s deficit up to three goals to one and the roar of the Yellow Wall attempting to inspire their team.
Dortmund once again seemed relatively uninspired in the second half, coming out like a team playing for a draw rather than a team who needed three goals in front of their home fans before they could even consider a shot at the quarterfinals. While they were able to cling to hope for the opening few minutes of the second half, Tevez and Morata put a nail in the coffin in the 69th minute with a fantastically timed run past Dortmund’s disintegrating back line for a simple tap-in finish for the young Spaniard Morata. To ice the cake on his own night in the Champions League and to sweeten the victory for the visitors, Tevez netted one more before he was substituted off, this time another screamer from the opposite side of the penalty area following an easy run past the defenders yet again.
Juventus deservedly moved on to represent Italy in the quarterfinals of the Champions League
Barcelona 1-0 Manchester City (3-1 aggregate)
Barcelona were the rightful team to move on this time as the two European titans clashed in the round of 16 for the second year in a row. The home side were led by the astounding Lionel Messi who surprisingly did not make it on the score sheet but was involved in almost every single brilliant attack the Spanish side staged against the visitors. Manchester City’s offense had the tricky task of timing their counter attacks to perfection but even Barcelona’s second-string goalkeeper was unable to be beaten and even made himself a Camp Nou hero with a lovely penalty save to deny Aguero a goal that could have changed the entire outcome of the game. Had Manchester city been able to find their dangerous momentum, things could have looked very different for Barcelona but their one goal was enough to see them through with a 3-1 aggregate win.
Barcelona’s star-studded offense immediately set to work breaking down Manchester City’s seasoned back line. Joe Hart was the man of the match for the English side, sparing them blushes with some fantastic saves after Messi and company easily dribbled around his defenders. Manuel Pelligrini surely recognized that the only way his side would score against a team who possesses as well as Barcelona would be to try and catch them on a rapid counter-attack before they could get organized and that strategy proved to be the only way Manchester City could make it into their attacking third. Barcelona rightfully took the lead in the 31st minute when none other than Lionel Messi sent a picture-perfect cross in to Ivan Rakitic. The Croatian midfielder controlled the ball with one composed touch off of his chest and volleyed it neatly over the looming Joe Hart and into the goal. It was a classy goal that perfectly reflected Barcelona’s classy play that night.
With the speed of Aguero, Nasri and Silva up top, the visitors were able to put a little more pressure on Barcelona in the second half, forcing some saves from ter Stegen and giving some welcome relief to Hart at the other end of the pitch. While Manchester City were attacking much better than in the first half, Barca were still dictating the pace of the game with their passing and possession. On a rare lapse in their dominance in the 77th minute, Aguero surged forward and found himself just inside the box with the ball at his feet, Pique in front of him and Mascherano behind. The video replay clearly indicated that little, if any, contact was made with the Argentine as he threw himself to the pitch but the only opinion that mattered was that of the referee, who pointed to the penalty spot. The young German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, a summer signing from Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, made himself a fan favorite by denying Aguero the equalizer that very well could have given City enough momentum to do some damage to the scoreline before the final whistle.
Barcelona were able to keep their composure and play out the 1-0 victory. They march on to the quarterfinals and join fellow Spaniards Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
