31st World Cup victory for Fanny Smith

Chelsea succeed in turning against Dortmund – Benfica continues without any problems

Chelsea reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. After losing 1-0 in the first leg, the English won 2-0 in front of their home fans. Benfica is also one round ahead, beating Brugge 5-1.

The match at Stamford Bridge started ten minutes late because the Dortmund team bus got stuck in traffic. When the match started, the home side dominated from the start, but again struggled to convert chances. In the 29th minute, Kai Havertz’s shot bounced off the inside of the post, and ten minutes later Kalidou Coulibaly scored the empty goal in front of him, but failed to hit the ball correctly.

In the 43rd minute, Raheem Sterling seemed to fumble the ball in a good position, but then controlled it and beat BVB goalkeeper Alexander Meyer with a perfect shot. The German, in turn, replaced goalkeeper Gregor Coppel. And the Swiss, who caused London to despair in the first leg, continued to complain of muscle problems.

Immediately after the break, a ball from close range fell into the hands of Dortmund’s Marius Wolf. After the video referee intercepted, the referee decided a penalty kick. Havertz took action and hit the post.

But the Germans’ jubilation was nipped in the bud when the referee signaled the penalty kick again. Video showed that some players – albeit from both teams – were already in the penalty area when the shot was fired. Havertz fared better at the second attempt and managed the round in this round of 16 duel. Swiss Denis Zakaria came on as a substitute in the 87th minute and helped the 2021 Champions League winner narrowly salvage the lead as time went on.

Benfica without problems

And in the second match on Tuesday, which started on schedule, in contrast to the duel in London, Benfica Lisbon won. After winning 2-0 away in the first leg, the Portuguese left nothing to be desired at home and won 5-1.

The man of the match was Gonzalo Ramos. The 21-year-old Portuguese, who shone with a hat-trick against Switzerland (6-1) in the World Cup last 16 in December, once again shone as a goalscorer. He set up the opening goal in the 37th minute, and just before and immediately after the first half, he scored two more goals himself. As in the previous year, German coach Roger Schmidt’s team reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. (sda)