Manchester City and Inter qualified for the quarter-finals with a thrashing and Inter with a struggle.
Two new teams qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League to join the teams that had already qualified the previous week and to be among the eight best teams in Europe.
Both qualifiers were very different. Manchester City literally crushed RB Lepzig with a historic 7-0 thrashing, with an outstanding performance of their star player, the Norwegian Haaland, who scored five goals.
Inter, on the other hand, in their visit to Porto managed to get a draw with a taste of victory that qualified them for the quarter-finals with suffering until the last minute of the match, as a goal from the Portuguese team forced extra time and penalties. In this way the two Italian teams from Milan are among the eight best in Europe, at least this year.
Manchester City qualified by thrashing Leipzig with a historic night from Haaland.
The 7-0 thrashing in Manchester put them back in the top eight of the Champions League. After a first leg that left some question marks, Guardiola's side cruised to a tremendous win with Erling Haaland taking centre stage, scoring five goals.
Anything that can be said about Erling Haaland's performance in City's win over RB Leipzig is an understatement. It will be difficult to put into words the magnitude of what the 22-year-old Norwegian has achieved.
It is prudent to start with some statistics. Haaland became the youngest player to reach 30 goals in the Champions League, stretched his run in the competition to 33 goals in 25 games, and is only the third player in history to score five in a single game in the competition.
Haaland also reached ten goals in the competition, equalling his personal best and making him the season's top scorer in the tournament.
It all started with a penalty in the 22nd minute, after a handball by Henrichs was ruled an infringement by VAR. Haaland crossed the left-footed shot, and in the blink of an eye he was back on the scoresheet.
He immediately put pressure on the Blaswich defence and pivoted to De Bruyne's front-foot shot, which hit the post. The ball was left alive and Haaland headed it in to make it 2-0, two goals in 78 seconds.
But there was more, after a half-hearted recovery attempt by Leipzig, who came dangerously close to Ederson. Before half-time Rúben Dias headed against the post, the ball rolled over the goal line and found, unsurprisingly, Haaland.
The 3-0 scoreline was all but settled, not to mention when Ilkay Gündogan dared to convert on Haaland's magical night with a fine strike.
And there was time for two more, two more from Haaland, who at just the right time and in just the right place, slotted home from inside the area to make it 6-0.
A spectacular individual performance from the striker, who Guardiola took off the field after the sixth in an almost merciful gesture.
But there was more, Kevin De Bruyne's talent was on display in the added time with a spectacular right-footed shot into the corner. 7-0, magical, unassailable.
City overcame the doubts of the first leg and confirmed themselves as great candidates in the second leg. And they are once again among the eight best in Europe.
Inter qualified for the quarter-finals after drawing with Porto.
Porto and Inter played out a goalless draw in the UEFA Champions League 2022-2023 Key 7 match.
Mehdi Taremi took a tremendous shot 95 minutes into the second half and the ball hit the post. It was not to be.
According to the statistics, Porto had more shots on target than their opponents (20): 14 on target, 5 wide and 1 hit the post. However, it was not enough to move the score in their favour.
Marko Grujic was the star of the match. The Porto midfielder made 55 correct passes, took 3 balls off the line and hit the target 3 times.
André Onana was also important. Inter's goalkeeper was fundamental for saving 5 shots and making 21 correct passes.
The game was very tight and intense, with more nerves than play. There were several cautions: Matteo Darmian, Edin Dzeko, Pepê, Francesco Acerbi, Sérgio Conceição. Pepê was sent off for his second yellow in the 96th minute of the second half.
Porto coach Sérgio Marceneiro Conceicao set up a 4-4-2 formation with Diogo Costa in goal; Pepê, Fábio Cardoso, Iván Marcano and Zaidu Sanusi in defence; Stephen Eustaquio, Mateus Uribe, Marko Grujic and Galeno in the middle; and Evanilson and Mehdi Taremi in attack.
For their part, Simone Inzaghi's men went with a 3-5-2 formation with André Onana in goal; Matteo Darmian, Francesco Acerbi and Alessandro Bastoni in defence; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolò Barella, Hakan Çalhanoglu, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Federico Dimarco in midfield; and Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martínez up front.
Referee Szymon Marciniak was selected to officiate.
Source images: Twitter UEFA Champions League.
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