The first two teams have booked their spots into the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
Bundesliga side RB Leipzig brushed aside Tottenham 3-0 at Red Bull Arena on Tuesday night, advancing on a 4-0 aggregate scoreline. Marcel Sabitzer scored both goals for Julian Nagelsmann’s side, finding the back of the net 12 minutes apart in the first half.
Sabitzer’s opener came in the 10th minute as his shot from 20-yards out was pushed into the bottom-left corner by Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. It was a good effort from the Austrian midfielder, but ultimately it was poor from Lloris who could’ve gathered the shot.
A perfect strike from Sabitzer ? pic.twitter.com/JjG5T7ko0U
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A good counter attack from Leipzig was capped off in the 22nd minute by Sabitzer once again. Angelino’s cross was headed in by Sabitzer, who once again got some help from Lloris. The Frenchman’s save was pushed off the post and trickled home ending the scoring from Germany.
Giovani Lo Celso’s first half shot was the best effort offensive for Jose Mourinho’s side who lacked the final product once again in front of goal.
Emil Forsberg added an insurance goal for Leipzig in the 87th minute, in the same minute as coming on as a substitute.
Leipzig advance to their first quarterfinals since 2017-18 and their second overall since the competition’s origination.
Valencia 3 – Atalanta 4 (Atalanta advances 8-4 on aggregate)
Serie A side Atalanta advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League with Josip Ilicic bagging four goals in a 4-3 second leg win at the empty Mestalla.
Valencia gave it their best effort after being downed 4-1 in Italy back in February, but drop out of the tournament.
A busy first half saw Ilicic score twice for Atalanta, with Kevin Gameiro’s strike coming in between. Ilicic’s opener came just three minutes in as the Slovenian scored from the penalty spot after winning the spot kick.
Gameiro’s finish came after an error from Palomino, allowing the Frenchman the chance to score easily.
Video review ruled in favor of a second Atalanta penalty just before halftime with Ilicic once again scoring from the spot. Gameiro netted his second of the evening six minutes into the second half, before Ferran Torres’ chipped finish made it 3-2 on the night.
Ilicic swung the match into Atalanta’s favor for good, scoring twice more in a span of 11 minutes. His third goal came from a low strike into the bottom-right corner before curling his fourth goal in after a nice one-two from Remo Freuler and Duvan Zpata.
Josip Ilicic scored his hat-trick goal then immediately asked to be subbed ? pic.twitter.com/HoSAfAl2R5
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Atalanta became the first Italian side to reach the UCL quarterfinals since Lazio in 1999-2000.
“Atalanta became the first Italian side to reach the UCL quarterfinals since Lazio in 1999-2000.”
Are you serious right now? This is extremely false. Please do a better job