Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/292371
Sport 21 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 APRIL 2014 SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Tonight UEFA Champions League 20:45 Atletico Madrid - Barcelona 20:45 Bayern M. - Manchester U. Chelsea and Real Madrid progress to semi-finals Chelsea .................... 2 PSG .......................... 0 (3-3 Agg.) CHELSEA and Jose Mourinho dare to dream of European glory once more after overturning a two-goal deficit to advance to the Champions League semi-finals at the expense of Paris St Germain. Mourinho raced down the touchline in celebration of substi- tute Demba Ba's 87th-minute goal, which secured the 2012 winners a 2-0 win and a place in the last four for a seventh time in 11 years courtesy of Eden Hazard's away goal in the first leg. It was a scene reminiscent of Mourinho's sprint at Old Trafford en route to his first European Cup success with Porto in 2004. The trophy eluded the Portuguese during his first spell at Stamford Bridge, but he won it again in 2010 with Inter Milan and has another shot at glory four years on. Chelsea trailed 3-1 after the first leg, but were unbeaten since Sep- tember at home and had kept eight successive clean sheets prior to the match. Mourinho believed in his side and, when Andre Schurrle swept in after 32 minutes, the Blues needed one more goal and to stretch that defensive mean-streak by one more game. Against a PSG strikeforce vaunt- ed even without the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic that was no easy task, but the defence held their side of the bargain as the attackers tried to fulfil theirs. Mourinho had gambled on the fitness of big-game player Samuel Eto'o, but was not banking on los- ing Hazard to injury after 18 min- utes. Schurrle, the Belgian's replace- ment, was anonymous in a 'false nine' role in the first leg, but thrived in the second, hitting the bar seven minutes into the second half. Oscar struck the frame of the goal with a free-kick moments lat- er and PSG had chances as Chelsea surged forward looking for the de- cisive goal. It looked like it would prove elu- sive until Cesar Azpilicueta's drive into the area fell for Ba to turn the ball into the net and spark deliri- ous celebrations, led by Mourin- ho. Borussia Dortmund .... 2 Real Madrid .............. 0 (2-3 Agg.) REAL Madrid survived a huge scare to progress through to the Champions League semi-finals as Borussia Dortmund fell just short of a stunning second-leg fight- back. Dortmund had it all to do after losing the first leg 3-0 in Spain but last season's runners-up looked on course to stage a remarkable comeback when, after seeing Ma- drid winger Angel Di Maria miss an early penalty, they scored twice through Marco Reus during a first-half onslaught. The German side continued to throw everything at Madrid in the second half, hitting the woodwork and going close on a number of other occasions, but they could not find the third goal they needed as Carlo Ancelotti's men held on for a 3-2 aggregate win. Dortmund beat Madrid 4-1 at home in last season's semi-finals but they needed an even better re- sult this time following the first- leg loss. However, they welcomed back the four-goal hero of last year's match as Robert Lewandowski re- turned after suspension, while in a further boost for the hosts Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo was only named on the bench after missing the weekend league match with a knee problem. That gave Dortmund a lift be- fore kick-off, but any optimism in the home camp should have been extinguished in the 16th minute when Madrid won a penalty after Fabio Coentrao's cross struck the arm of Lukasz Piszczek. In the absence of regular taker Ronaldo, Di Maria stepped up for the penalty but he slipped just as he shot and saw his effort well saved by Roman Weidenfeller div- ing to his left. An away goal then would sure- ly have ended the tie as a con- test, leaving Dortmund needing to score at least five times to go through, but the miss further gal- vanised the home side and they laid siege to the Madrid goal for the remainder of the half. The unmarked Henrikh Mkhi- taryan should have scored in the 19th minute when he side- footed wide following good work by Lewandowski, but within five minutes they were ahead thanks to a combination of Reus and a ter- rible error from Pepe. The Portugal centre-back 's at- tempted back header was pounced on by Reus and he nipped it past Iker Casillas before sliding it into the net. That set the Westfalenstadion rocking, and it was to get a whole lot better for the home side before the break as well. Casillas did well to tip over Mats Hummels' powerful header at the far post in the 32nd minute but Dortmund would not be denied and they made it 2-0 in the 37th minute. Another mistake from the visi- tors saw Asier Illarramendi care- lessly give the ball away to Reus, who raced to the edge of the Madrid area before slipping in Lewandowski. Casillas tipped the Poland international's shot onto the post but Reus followed up to slam the loose ball into the roof of the net. Nine-time European champions Madrid, previously unbeaten in this season's competition, were on the ropes and the half-time whis- tle could not come soon enough for the Spanish giants. Fortunately for them it arrived without any more setbacks, and at the interval Ancelotti decided to shake things up, sending on attacking midfielder Isco on for the more defensive-minded Illar- ramendi. The break seemed to take the steam out of Dortmund somewhat, and Madrid looked the more likely scorers at the start of the second half with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema both threatening. However, in the 64th minute the visitors survived a huge let off when Mkhitaryan missed an un- believable chance. The Armenia international looked to have done the hard work as he raced onto Reus' through- ball and rounded Casillas but, with the goal at his mercy, he shot against the near post. Dortmund had found their sec- ond wind though and in the next six minutes Casillas was called on to make to crucial saves to deny Mkhitaryan and Kevin Grosskreutz. Jurgen Klopp's men would not come any closer than that to leave Madrid breathing a huge sigh of relief at the final whistle. Demba Ba scores a late goal to send Chelsea through