Takeaways from the Champions League quarter-finals

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City felt like the final

Two years ago Real Madrid defeated Man City en route to a Champions League trophy. Last year, City got revenge beating Madrid and winning their first Champions League title. The Spanish giants continued the pattern on Tuesday beating the Sky Blues 4-3 on penalties.

While the second leg did not mirror the offensive output of the first game, the quality on the field exemplified that of a Champions League final.

Matches between these two European powerhouses never disappoint and If the cycle continues, Real Madrid should be poised to win its 15th Champions League trophy.

Harry Kane’s last chance

Imagine joining Bayern Munich in an attempt to win your first major trophy and not winning anything. That could be a reality for Harry Kane. The Englishman left Tottenham with an empty trophy cabinet and joined Munich, who had not gone trophyless in 2012.

Out of nowhere, Bayer Leverkusen has gone undefeated in all competitions this year winning the Bundesliga with five games left.

Kane and Bayern were also knocked out of the DFB Pokal, the German domestic cup by FC Saarbrucken, who play in the third division of German Football.

The Champions League is Kane’s last chance to win a trophy in his first season with Munich. The team got past Arsenal and into the Semifinals with ease and now faces Real Madrid. Bayern have not beaten Real Madrid in the Champions League in over ten years.

Dortmund is a roller coaster

In the first leg, Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid played Dortmund off the pitch though they only won 2-1. Dortmund stormed back in the second leg scoring first-half goals to take a 3-2 aggregate lead But as quickly as Dortmund took the lead, it surrendered two goals early in the second half and once again faced Champions League elimination.

Then in the span of three minutes, Dortmund scored twice to retake the lead and saw out the rest of the game to make its first Champions League Semi Final since 2013.

Atletico versus Dortmund was a very interesting fixture. Neither of these teams has performed especially well in their domestic leagues with Atletico sitting fifth and Dortmund sitting fifth. No one is quite sure of how good these two squads are, but now Dortmund will face off against Mbappe and PSG for a spot in the Champions League final.

No more english teams

For just the second time since 2017, no Premier League team will feature in the Champions League Semi-Finals.

Of the four English teams that made the prestigious tournament this year Manchester United and Newcastle both crashed out in the group stage. Arsenal and Man City each advanced to the quarter-finals but both teams were eliminated on Wednesday.

The struggles of English teams continued in the Europa League with the two remaining Premier League teams, Liverpool and West Ham failing to advance past Atalanta and Leverkusen respectively.

Aston Villa, who defeated Lille in penalties, in the European Conference League is now the final English team in a European competition this year.

Owen Cameros is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email ohc5024@psu.edu.