April 20 – Manchester City’s dream of finally landing the Champions League trophy edged closer on Wednesday when Erling Haaland scored his 48th goal for the club in all competitions in a 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich.
The clash of the heavyweights was always likely to ultimately go City’s way following their 3-0 first leg win and they now advance to play holders Real Madrid in a mouth-watering semi-final.
Haaland missed a first-half penalty in Munich but made amends in the 57th minute before Bayern levelled with a Joshua Kimmich penalty in the 83rd as City eased through 4-1 on aggregate.
It was their 15th consecutive game without defeat across all competitions and the 10th time Pep Guardiola had reached the semi-finals as a coach, a new record.
“In this competition it is the details. In these two games in the right moments we were there,” said Guardiola, who coached Bayern from 2013-16.
The Bavarians, knocked out of the German Cup two weeks ago just after new coach Thomas Tuchel’s arrival, got a lucky break in the first half when defender Dayot Upamecano was initially sent off after receiving a straight red card for a last-man foul on Haaland. A VAR review, however, confirmed the striker was offside and the Bayern defender’s dismissal was overturned.
Upamecano was less fortunate a little later when he was unluckily penalised for a handball that led to City’s penalty, only for Haaland to blast over, a rare miss this season for the prolific Norwegian.
Bayern’s frustrating evening was completed when Tuchel was sent off after a second booking in the 86th minute for protesting.
The other semi-final throws up an intriguing Milan derby as Inter Milan drew 3-3 at home against Benfica to complete a 5-3 aggregate victory over the Portuguese team. That came a day after AC Milan prevailed against Napoli.
It is Inter’s first semi-final since the Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup treble of in 2010. “Obviously I am happy, and I am happy for the boys because it is an important and historic achievement,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi. “We’ve come a long way, from a very, very difficult group.
The Nerazzurri will now face its city rival in a repeat of the 2003 semi-final which AC Milan won on away goals. “It’s a very special match, we know what it means to play a match of this sort,” said Inter forward Martínez.
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