Real Madrid’s dismal run of form continued as they survived a scare against Schalke, narrowly edging the Germans 5-4 on aggregate, after an embarrassing 3-4 loss. In the other Round-of-16 encounter, FC Porto brushed aside FC Basel 4-0, reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008-09.
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Real Madrid were favorites to qualify to the next round, even before the draws were announced and after their 2-0 win in Gelsenkirchen, Real Madrid were poised to give the Germans a harsh sending off when they visited the Bernabeu. But the capital side was in for a shock when Christian Fuchs gave his side a well deserved lead after Casillas deflected a relatively easy shot into the back of the net. Meyer and Barnetta made life horrible for the Real defence and looked to score more when Ronaldo equalized through a corner. In the 25th minute, the Portuguese rose above his marker, Joel Matip, to plant a header into the top-left. Schalke lost their sting after the equalizer but hit back in the 40th minute when Casillas parried an easy shot right into the path of marksman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. And at the stroke of halftime, Real equalized yet again when Ronaldo headed the ball in, this time into the top-right.
After halftime, Real took the lead when Karim Benzema waltzed past the Schalke defence to score a beauty. This gave a Real the lead in match and a 3 goal lead in the tie. It was almost over for Schalke when substitute Leroy Sane, making his European debut slammed in the equalizer, curling the ball past a hapless Casillas. The game was on and both sides were making ferocious attacks, Real to preserve their integrity; Schalke to illustrate one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history. And Modric gave the Germans that chance when he toed the ball to Sane who passed it to Huntelaar, who made no mistake in firing the ball into the goal, giving Schalke the lead. They needed a goal to create and history and knock out the holders but Casillas finally made some crucial saves to see his side go through to the quarterfinals. Schalke, despite the win, went down on aggregate 5-4 but this heroic win at the Bernabeu will always remain etched in the mind of every Schalke supporter of this generation.
Meanwhile in Portugal, Porto hammered Basel in a one-sided affair at the Estadio do Dragao. Porto missed Jackson Martinez through injury but Yacine Brahimi made sure the Columbian’s absence wasn’t felt, when he floated the ball into the top-right corner past the hapless Tomas Vaclik to give his side the lead. After a collision with his own ‘keeper, captain Danilo was stretchered off following a heavy blow to the jaw. At the interval, Porto were in front but Basel only needed a solitary goal to make matters all square.
But Basel of the group stages never showed up and Hector Herrera curled in shot into the far right corner in the 47th minute. With a two-goal cushion, Porto were relentless and in the 56th minute Casemiro blasted the ball into the top of the next from a 30-yard freekick. It was a goal out of nothing and Porto were well on course to progress into the next round. Vincent Aboubakar made it 4, when he swerved across Walter Samuel and curled the ball past Vaclik to put the icing on the cake. It was a game full of ‘golazos’ and Porto deservingly progressed to the next round.
Meanwhile in the FA Cup, Arsenal beat Manchester United to book their place in the semifinals after former United man Danny Welbeck sealed a 2-1 victory for the Gunners.
Photo: John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images
