Just another raw and savage night of Champions League football at the Westfalen: the colours vivid, the sounds ear-shattering, the defences in utter disarray. Late goals from Niclas Fullkrug and Marcel Sabitzer secured Borussia Dortmund’s passage to the semi-finals, breaking open an Atlético Madrid who look a grey scale model of the battleships Diego Simeone once produced.

It was flawed and it was chaotic, and even amid Dortmund’s elation there remains the eternal question of whether they are ever going to allow us to take them seriously, whether they will ever escape this riotously entertaining cycle of boom and bust. This tie felt like a whole psychodrama in its own right, and one Atlético could quite conceivably have finished within the first half-hour in Madrid.

Continue reading...

• Champions League updates, 8pm BST kick-off ( first leg: 1-2 )
• Live scoreboard | Read Football Daily | And send Taha an email

Here they come …

If you’re in the mood for double-screening tonight, there’s this one to keep tabs on, too.

Continue reading...

Axel Witsel had said that Atlético Madrid had to play as if there was no second leg and for much of a noisy night at the Metropolitano, it seemed his side might make good on that approach, effectively ending the tie here. Instead, having dominated the first half and taken a 2-0 lead, then defended it the way they used to, keeping Borussia Dortmund at a safe distance and creating chances to have scored a third, an 81st-minute goal from Sébastian Haller means everything is still in play in six days’ time.

It might have been even more on a knife edge too, Julian Brandt hitting the bar with the very last touch of a noisy night. Ultimately, Rodrigo De Paul and Samuel Lino’s goals were just enough, and when Diego Simeone comes to analyse this, he will at least take comfort from the fact that they have a lead.

Continue reading...

• Minute-by-minute updates on the action at the Metropolitano
• Any thoughts? You can email Will

A decent record.

It is looking a little lively outside.

Continue reading...

• Spain to deploy 2,000 officers at Real Madrid v Manchester City
• French interior minister says IS ‘specifically targeted’ stadiums

Police in Madrid and Paris have stepped up security before this week’s Champions League quarter-finals following an apparent threat from Islamic State (IS).

Although Spain’s interior ministry stressed the country’s terror alert remained at level four of five, it said 2,000 officers from the National Police and Guardia Civil forces would be deployed to help municipal police patrol Real Madrid v Manchester City on Tuesday and Atlético Madrid v Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, which will both be played in the capital.

Continue reading...

• Premier League clubs to meet in semi-finals if they progress
• Atlético v Dortmund, plus PSG v Barça completes last eight

Manchester City and Arsenal will meet in an all-Premier League Champions League semi-final should the former beat Real Madrid and the latter overcome Bayern Munich in their respective quarter-finals.

Friday’s draw for the quarter and semi-finals of Europe’s premier competition pitted City against Real for a third successive year, the previous two occasions having been in the last four. In 2022, the Spanish giants defeated Pep Guardiola’s side on their way to a record 14th triumph. Last season City prevailed en route to beating Internazionale 1-0 in the final to claim the treble.

Continue reading...

Jadon Sancho and Marco Reus scored as Borussia Dortmund secured a 2-0 win over PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday and a Champions League last-eight place for the first time in three years with a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Sancho, on loan from Manchester United, threaded his shot through the legs of an Eindhoven player and in off the post for his second goal in two matches.

Continue reading...

• Champions League updates, 8pm GMT kick-off ( first leg: 1-1 )
• Live scoreboard | And you can contact Simon by mail or on X

Hello world! It’s all to play for at Signal Iduna Park, after a 1-1 draw in a first leg that PSV probably shaded but couldn’t win – “An open game, very intense,” according to their coach, Peter Bosz, once of Dormund. The Dutch side have cantered to a 10-point lead in the Eredivisie, have lost just once since November in all competitions and in Luuk de Jong have the top scorer in Dutch football (encouragingly, PSV haven’t been involved in a goalless draw since January 2023, and before that not since April 2022), and it was the Dutchman who equalised for them in the first game. True fact alert: PSV have won six and lost seven of their European knockout ties against German teams, which is quite a handy record, but they have only ever won a single European game in Germany – and they have lost 14. Donyell Malen, who scored Borussia’s goal in the first leg (and once of PSV) said yesterday he considers his side to be favourites, but then perhaps he shouldn’t be listened to, given he also came up with the following: “We haven’t been thinking about a penalty shootout, but of course we’ve been practising.” So not thinking about them, but practising them. Right, sure. Got it.

Kick-off: 8pm GMT, 9pm local

Continue reading...

The Dortmund left-back on leaving Chelsea, feeling free in Germany and his determination to succeed at the top level

Ian Maatsen feels free. A bit-part player at Chelsea during the first half of the season, the left-back has found a new lease of life since joining Borussia Dortmund on loan in January. “The coach, the board, gave me a lot of confidence because they really wanted me,” Maatsen says. “They put trust in me and I put trust in them. I think that’s why it went so well.

“I had trust at Chelsea but with the pressure they are under it is sometimes difficult for a manager to let everyone play – especially young talents with potential. He has to make decisions for the team. You have to deal with it as a young player. Sometimes it’s not fair but maybe it’s the best decision for the club and other teammates. I appreciate that. But I want to play football.”

Continue reading...