Izuchukwu OkosiBayern Munich and AC Milan advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night after their wins over Paris Saint Germain and Tottenham Hotspur respectively.
Bayern ended another European dream for PSG beating the French billionaires 2-0 in the round of 16 second leg tie to reach the quarterfinals 3-0 on aggregate.
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored the first goal for Bayern against his former side – after an initially ruled out goal for offside.
Substitute, Serge Gnabry wrapped up the victory a minute from time. Another late substitute for Bayern, Sadio Mane, thought he had extended the lead but the offside flag ended his goal celebration.
Bayern were worthy winners against a flat PSG side, for whom neither Kylian Mbappe nor Lionel Messi had the expected impact on the game while Neymar was missing with an ankle injury.
It is the second season running in which PSG have gone out of the Champions League in the last 16, and the fifth time in the last seven campaigns the Qatar-owned club have failed to go beyond the first knockout round.
They were not helped by injuries in defence, with captain Marquinhos forced off after 36 minutes with a rib problem and his replacement, Nordi Mukiele, also having to be substituted at half-time.
Vitinha might have put the French champions in front in the first half, but Matthijs de Ligt cleared his attempt off the line.
Bayern went ahead just after the hour mark, Leon Goretzka setting up the unmarked Choupo-Moting for an easy finish after Marco Verratti had been dispossessed in his own box.
Sergio Ramos came closest to getting the visitors back into the game before Gnabry clinched Bayern’s victory late on.
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Meanwhile, AC Milan progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2012 as the Italian champions held out for a 0-0 draw at 10-man Tottenham to win 1-0 on aggregate.
A European elimination hot on the heels of an exit from the FA Cup means Tottenham’s 15-year wait to win a trophy will extend for at least another season.
Antonio Conte’s return to the touchline failed to inspire a response from his side as Tottenham were toothless in attack and had to play the final 12 minutes a man down as Cristian Romero was sent off for two bookable offences.
Kick-off was delayed by 10 minutes after the later arrival of both sides due to traffic congestion, but it took far longer for the contest to get going.
Conte was back in charge after taking more time after the first leg to recover from gallbladder surgery.
The Italian was his usual animated self and was shown a yellow card by referee Clement Turpin for his protestations at a booking for Clement Lenglet.
However, his players lacked the same energy as Spurs failed to rise to the occasion.
Milan produced the one piece of imagination befitting of a Champions League knockout tie before the break as a well-worked free-kick found Junior Messias, but the Brazilian dragged his shot wide.
Spurs had lost four of their previous six games, including a defeat to second-tier Sheffield United in the FA Cup.
The home support could not hide their frustration as the half-time whistle was met with a smattering of boos.
Conte was unable to provoke a response at the break as Spurs needed stand-in goalkeeper Fraser Forster to keep them in the tie.
Brahim Diaz scored the only goal of the first leg and his jinking run inside the Spurs box just lacked the finish as Forster’s outstretched leg deflected the ball to safety.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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