SOCCER - CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
2024/25
Matchday 2 - Bayern Munich (0) @ (1) Aston Villa - In their first home match in the European Cup for 41 years, Villa continued their unbeaten start to the tournament with an emotional win at Villa Park. The game was tight, but Villa settled it in their favour with 79th minute goal from substitute Jhon Duran, as he spectacularly chipped Bayern 'keeper Manuel Neuer for the winning goal. Aston Villa also featured Ollie Watkins and Bayern Munich featured Harry Kane (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Fletcher/Ward/Hargreaves, PAL)
Matchday 3 - Borussia Dortmund (2) @ (5) Real Madrid - In a replay of the 2023/24 Champions League Final, Real Madrid produced a stunning comeback at the Bernabeu to stay unbeaten in the tournament. Dortmund had the better of the 1st half and went in at the break with a 2-0 lead. But Madrid turned the game around in the 2nd half, scoring 5 unanswered goals to take the win. The Real Madrid goals came from Antonio Rudiger, Lucas Vazquez and a hat-trick from Vinicius Junior, who had a great game. The Borussia Dortmund goals came from Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Darke/McManaman, PAL)
Matchday 7 - Manchester City (2) @ (4) Paris St.Germain - At a rainy Parc des Princes, PSG fought back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game and give themselves a chance at qualification for the knockout round. After a scoreless 1st half, City scored 2 goals in 8 minutes at the start of the 2nd half to take control of the game. But PSG hit back with 4 unanswered goals to turn the game around and take the win. The PSG goals came from Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Joao Neves and Goncalo Ramos. The Manchester City goals came from Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland (9, No Pre-Game, 2 Discs, TNT - Fletcher/McCoist, PAL)
Playoff 2nd Leg - Manchester City (1) @ (3) Real Madrid - Real Madrid overcame the English Champions with a comfortable win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, winning 6-3 on aggregate to book a place in the Last 16. The chief tormentor for Real Madrid was star striker Kylian Mbappe who scored all 3 goals. The Manchester City goal came from Nico González. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland missed the game with an injury. Includes 11 minutes hi-lites of the 1st leg (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Fletcher/McManaman/Ferdinand, PAL)
Last 16, 1st leg - Atletico Madrid (1) @ (2) Real Madrid - Home-side Real Madrid took a slim lead into the 2nd leg against their city rivals, in a game of spectacular goals. Firstly, Rodrygo opened the scoring for Real Madrid after 4 minutes with a brilliant individual goal. Julian Alvarez equalised for Atletico with a fantastic curling strike before half-time before Brahim Diaz gave Los Blancos the lead in the 2nd half with another sensational individual goal. Jude Bellingham missed the game for Real Madrid (Suspended) (9, No Pre-Game, 1 Disc, TNT - Summerton/McManaman, PAL)
Last 16, 2nd leg - Real Madrid (0) @ (1) Atletico Madrid - Real Madrid continued their hex over their city rivals in the Champions League with a controversial win via a Penalty Shootout. At a raucous Metropolitano Stadium, Atletico stunned Real Madrid with a goal after just 27 seconds from Englishman Connor Gallagher, but neither team could find the winning goal in normal or extra-time so the game went to a Penalty Shootout. After the first three had been converted, Atletico's Julian Alvarez stepped up to take Atletico's second. He slipped while taking it, but the ball ended up in the back of the net. While it was initially given, the successful spot-kick was subsequently ruled out by VAR, with Alvarez having been deemed to have touched the ball twice as he struck his effort. Real Madrid took advantage of the momentum shift to convert 2 of their next 3 kicks to win the shootout 4-2 and book their place in the Quarter Finals (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Matterface/McManaman, PAL)
Quarter Final, 2nd Leg - Bayern Munich (2) @ (2) Inter Milan - Inter Milan booked their place in the Semi-Final with a hard-fought win at the San Siro Stadium. Bayern scored 1st to over-turn a 2-1 1st leg deficit, but that sparked Inter into life and they took control of the tie with 2 unanswered goals. Bayern did pull a goal back with 14 minutes left but Inter held on for the win. The Inter Milan goals came from Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard. The Bayern Munich goals came from Harry Kane and Eric Dier. Also includes 8 minutes of hi-lites of the 1st Leg (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Matterface/Ward, PAL)
Quarter Final, 2nd Leg - Arsenal (2) @ (1) Real Madrid - Arsenal knocked out the reigning Champions with a confident display at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. The Gunners held a 3-0 lead from the 1st leg, and all but killed the tie off with a goal in the 65th minute. Real equalised 2 minutes later, but Arsenal sealed the big win with a goal 3 minutes into injury time at the end of the match then celebrated booking a semi-final berth. The Arsenal goals came from Bukayo Saka (who also missed a penalty) and Gabriel Martinelli. The Real Madrid goal came from Vinicius Junior. The game was also the final Champions League game for Madrid's Luka Modric. Also includes 16 minutes of hi-lites of the 1st Leg (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Fletcher/McCoist/Ferdinand, PAL)
Semi-Final, 1st Leg - Inter Milan (3) @ (3) Barcelona - In a shootout at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, the hosts twice came back from a goal down to keep themselves firmly in the tie. Inter Milan were sensationally 2-0 up after 21 minutes but Barcelona, led by a superb game from Lamine Yamal, pulled themselves back to 2-2 at the half. Both teams exchanged goals in a calmer 2nd half, but neither team could find a winner and the tie ended firmly poised. The Inter Milan goals came from Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries (2). The Barcelona goals came from Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and an own-goal when a 25-yard scorcher from Raphinha bounced back of the bar and went in off of Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer's back (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Fletcher/McCoist/Ferdinand, PAL)
Semi-Final, 2nd Leg - Barcelona (3) @ (4) Inter Milan - Inter Milan booked a place in the Champions League Final with a sensational win at the San Siro Stadium. The Italians were 3-2 down as the game entered the 4th minute of injury time at the end of the game, when defender Francesco Acerbi smashed in an equaliser that sent the home crowd wild and sent the game into extra-time. Inter rode the momentum to score first in extra-time and defended the lead to the end to take the win. The other Inter Milan goals came from Lautaro Martinez, Hakan Calhanoglu and Davide Frattesi. The Barcelona goals came from Eric García, Dani Olmo and Raphinha. Barcelona also featured Lamine Yamal (9, No Pre-Game and Post-Game from BBC coverage, 2 Discs, Prime - Champion/Shearer, PAL)
Semi-Final, 2nd Leg - Arsenal (1) @ (2) Paris St.Germain - Arsenal's run in the Champions League ended with a loss to the French Champions at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Facing a 1-0 deficit from the 1st leg, Arsenal dominated the early going but found PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in inspired form. And PSG made them pay for not scoring by taking the lead themselves in the 27th minute. A further goal in the 2nd half ended the tie and a late goal from Arsenal proved just a consolation as PSG booked their place in the final. The PSG goals came from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi. The Arsenal goal came from Bukayo Saka (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Fletcher/McCoist/Keown, PAL)
Final - Paris St.Germain (5) v (0) Inter Milan - At the Allianz Arena in Munich, French Champions PSG finally won their 1st Champions League title. The 5 unanswered goals set a record for the largest margin of victory in the final. PSG dominated with a brilliant attacking game-plan and took a 2-0 lead in at the half. 3 more unanswered goals in the 2nd half squashed any chance of an Inter Milan comeback and PSG cantered home to the title. The PSG goals came from Achraf Hakimi, Desire Doue (2), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Senny Mayulu (9, 4 Discs, TNT - Fletcher/McCoist/Ferdinand, PAL)