Goals, drama, cards, and brilliant saves. The last two nights of Champions League football had them all in abundance. We take a look back to capture the things that stood out for us the most as two incredible nights of action unfolded across Europe.
Ancellotti's Passivity Costs Real Madrid
When Declan Rice stood over the free kick in the 58th minute and sent it crashing into the Madrid net, my first thought was hope. A faint, flickering hope that maybe, just maybe, Arsenal could find a way to defend a one-goal margin and sneak into the semifinals. By the end of the night, that hope had turned to arrogance. As far as I'm concerned, Arsenal are in the semis.
The story of the night was undoubtedly Rice's wonder goals and that proper striker's finish from Mikel Merino, but you know all those things already. So let me tell you something else. What I found most interesting about that game was Madrid's approach to the game. Carlo Ancelotti clearly intended for this tie to be settled at the Bernabeu; his team set up to absorb pressure and defend without the ball. And when they had the ball, they tried to... do nothing. And I mean that, nothing. Especially in the first half, on quite a number of occasions, Madrid passed the ball around at the back with no particular urgency before being forced to go long from Arsenal pressure and then ultimately losing the ball in a duel.
Look, I know they did not come to win the game, but that is an incredibly horrible way to set up for a Champions League quarterfinal. It's even worse when you have players like Mbappe and Vinicius up front. A reasonable tweak to that plan would have been to play a 4-4-2 with Valverde in midfield, attract Arsenal pressure on the ball and then launch it long to one of Vinicius or Mbappe. Having 4 midfielders would have allowed one of them (probably Valverde or Bellingham) to step up and join the attack while leaving them 3-on-3 in midfield against Arsenal's midfielders. But, crucially, the extra midfielder would also have been able to immediately fall back into position should they lose the ball upfront. Real Madrid have shot themselves in the foot by being too passive, and they now head back to the Bernabeu with a massive deficit to overturn against one of the world's meanest defences.
The PSG Machine Keeps On Going
When we wrote our last Champions League roundup for the Round of 16 matchups, we pointed out that Liverpool were particularly vulnerable down the flanks. A problem because PSG possess immense firepower down the flanks.
I think Emery realised this and it showed in the way he set up his Aston Villa team. He started with Lucas Digne and Matty Cash at the fullback positions on the night, both very attack-minded fullbacks whose strengths don't particularly lie in defending for 90 minutes. To make up for this, Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers had to spend most of the game supporting their fullbacks in defensive duties. It almost worked, but the PSG wide men still managed to find space.
The obvious source of Aston Villa's inability was PSG's quality out wide. Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia would be a handful for any defence in the world right now. But the real problem is the freedom and dynamism with which the PSG front line moves around. Typically, one of the PSG fullbacks pushes up to join the front 3, as does one of the midfielders. This meant that you could have one of several possible combinations at any moment. Desire Doue's goal came about by him drifting off to the left to receive the ball and run at the Villa defence. Nuno Mendes's goal was set up by Dembele dropping into midfield to receive the ball, turn, and put Nuno through on goal. In the end, PSG's dynamism was too much for the Aston Villa players as people kept turning up in positions they didn't expect going into the game.
It's worth noting that Aston Villa was set up to execute a game plan similar to Real Madrid, but with more intent. They sat back and absorbed pressure, but whenever they had the ball, they tried to get it up to their transition threats in Rashford and Morgan Rogers as quickly as they could. Their first goal was an example of one such fast break, with Rashford playing the pass for Tielemans to cross for the Rogers goal. Their only problem on the night was that they were playing against a PSG team that looks unstoppable right now.
Barca Demolishes Dortmund
To no one's surprise, really.
I'm surprised Borussia Dortmund got this far to begin with, and I think most people were too. Of all the teams left, Dortmund are probably the worst in terms of quality. They sit 8th in the Bundesliga at the moment, and they haven't had a stellar Champions League campaign so far. They finished 10th on the table, and barely snuck past Lille in the Round of 16. But as they showed last season in their unexpected call to the final, this team can be very unpredictable in the Champions League.
However, Barcelona are arguably the best team in the world right now. They're top of La Liga, in pole position to win the Copa Del Rey, and they have decimated almost all the opponents they've faced in the Champions League so far. Most importantly, Barca have arguably the most lethal front 3 in the world right now, and they were all involved in Dortmund's demolition. Lewandowski scored twice, with Lamine Yamal and Raphinha also chipping in with a goal each to bring the tally to 4.
I have a bit of an "I-told-you-so" in me right now as I remember telling people that the Barca midfield just needed Frenkie de Jong to return to gain some much needed stability. Injuries, contract wars, and general uncertainty over the Dutchman's future have affected how he's perceived in recent seasons, but I have never doubted him, and thankfully, neither did Hansi Flick. On the night he left the pitch with a 97% pass accuracy (68/70), won 5/6 duels, made 3 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 1 clearance. A true all-rounder display.
1,333
Inter And Bayern Lock Horns
Honestly, Inter Milan is the best team in the world to me right now. The way Filippo Inzaghi sets up his teams is so interesting, the unorthodox usage of centerbacks, the compact defending, the relentless pressing. It's a team that shouldn't work but absolutely does. I mean, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is 36 and still churning out great performances for Inter, and I don't understand how the guy has just gotten much better as he's gotten older.
As highly as I rate Inter, you can never really count out any team in the quarterfinal of the Champions League, especially not one with as much European pedigree as Bayern Munich. And it proved to be a close game on the night. Inter led for most of the night before Thomas Muller equalised in the 85th minute. But 3 minutes later, Davide Fratessi struck for Inter to win the game for the Italian giants and hand them a lead heading into the second leg at the San Siro.
The highlight of this game was almost certainly the incredible technique for Lautaro Martinez's opener, proof that the Argentine is still one of the best forwards in the game.
The assist from Marcus Thuram, the finish from Lautaro Martinez. Class. 
It's certainly still a very close tie, the closest of all the four matchups, we'll only find out what happens when we get to the San Siro.
Rice Rice Baby
I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist showing you those free kicks again.
This fan angle of BOTH Declan Rice’s outrageous free-kicks against Real Madrid. 
Different commentators' reactions to the 2nd Declan Rice goal.
Brilliant
Brilliant
champions league quarterfinal roundup for /thefalsenine: - ancellotti's passivity proves costly - frenkie de jong at his best - psg's dynamic frontline - inter the best team in the world? and so many more! https://paragraph.com/@thefalsenine/ucl-quarterfinal-first-leg-roundup