Manchester, March 18 — Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain ended hopes of dramatic comebacks by Manchester City and Chelsea in the Champions League round of 16, while Sporting Lisbon produced a remarkable second‑leg turnaround to eliminate Norway’s Bodø/Glimt. Madrid protected a three‑goal first‑leg cushion with a 2-1 win at City to advance 5-1 on aggregate, PSG thrashed Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge for an 8-2 aggregate victory, and Sporting overturned a 3-0 deficit by beating Bodø/Glimt 5-0 after extra time.
The tie at the Etihad was effectively decided by an early red card to City captain Bernardo Silva in the 20th minute after a video review. Silva was sent off for using his elbow on the goal line to block a Vinicius Jr. shot; Vinicius converted the resulting penalty and added a late close‑range goal to seal the night for the 15‑time European champions. Erling Haaland had briefly pulled City level in the 41st minute and the hosts created chances despite playing with 10 men. Kylian Mbappé returned from nearly a month out injured as a second‑half substitute for Madrid, which now awaits the winner of Bayern Munich or Atalanta — Bayern lead that tie 6-1 from the first leg.
At Stamford Bridge, PSG struck twice inside the opening 14 minutes and finished 3-0 courtesy of goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Bradley Barcola and Senny Mayulu. The result avenged PSG’s Club World Cup final loss to Chelsea eight months earlier and keeps the defending champions on course to face either Galatasaray or Liverpool in the quarterfinals; Galatasaray won the first leg 1-0.
Arsenal kept Premier League representation in the last eight by beating Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate. Eberechi Eze scored a rising strike from the edge of the area before Declan Rice added a second at the Emirates. Top of the Premier League by nine points and with a League Cup final against Manchester City and an FA Cup quarterfinal pending, Arsenal’s hopes of a rare quadruple remain very much alive.
The Northern Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt, from a fishing town of roughly 55,000 and playing in the 8,000‑capacity Aspmyra, saw its fairy tale run end after Sporting dominated the return leg. Gonçalo Inácio, Pedro Gonçalves and Luis Suárez forced extra time before Maxi Araújo put Sporting ahead on aggregate in the 92nd minute and Rafael Nel added a fifth in stoppage time. “People thought it was almost impossible,” Araújo said. “But we showed that we believed in ourselves and turned it around. We played a perfect game.” (AP)
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/03/19/real-madrid-psg-reach-quarters-bodo-glimt-fairytale-run-over/
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Publish Date: 2026-03-19 06:42:00
