Real Madrid endured a nervy night against RB Leipzig before they booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-1 win on aggregate after a 1-1 second-leg draw.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team held a one-goal lead from the first game in Germany on February 13, but came close to exiting in the last-16 stage only for Lois Openda to miss several chances while Dani Olmo hit the crossbar in stoppage time.
It meant Vinicius Junior’s 65th-minute opener, after a superb assist by Jude Bellingham, proved decisive with Leipzig’s equaliser via Willi Orban not enough to earn Marco Rose’s men a famous European victory.
Bellingham started days after his red card at Valencia following the controversial decision by referee Jesus Gil Manzano to blow for full-time before his headed effort could count as a last-gasp winner.
Leipzig had created plenty of chances in the first leg and should have put the ball in the net with 10 minutes played when Benjamin Sesko was sent through, but Andriy Lunin made a simple save and the offside flag was raised.
Vinicius diverted an effort over the crossbar with his chest soon after, which proved a rare venture into the Germans’ half in a one-sided first 45 minutes.
Openda curled wide moments later before his golden chance arrived in the 16th minute, but he dragged wide after an excellent ball by Olmo.
The Bernabeu crowd were already restless and a blocked Bellingham effort failed to turn the tide, with Paris St Germain loanee Xavi Simons next to test Lunin.
Simons was involved again three minutes before the break when his corner picked out Openda, who brushed the side-netting with his wayward shot from inside the area.
Whistles followed at half-time and Ancelotti reacted with Rodrygo introduced, but the visitors continued to create chances with Openda able to round Lunin before his decision to cut back inside allowed the Madrid goalkeeper to dive at his feet.
Madrid frustration boiled over when Vinicius was booked for shoving Orban to the ground, but he almost created the opener on the hour mark with a great run only for Bellingham’s scuffed effort to hit Rodrygo before a Toni Kroos shot was parried away.
Ancelotti’s team had finally started to move up the gears and the breakthrough occurred with 65 minutes played.
Bellingham was at the heart of the move, carrying the ball half the length of the pitch before he found Vinicius, who made an excellent run and rifled into the corner.
Any chance that Leipzig would fold was dispelled when Antonio Rudiger deflected a shot from Simons wide, which sparked big celebrations with Bellingham.
It was the visitors celebrating with 22 minutes left though when David Raum’s cross was headed in by Leipzig captain Orban to set up a grandstand finish.
Rose urged his team to press forward for a decisive second and Olmo sent a shot wide before Orban headed another chance over.
Leipzig pushed for a final opportunity, which did arrive in stoppage time but Olmo’s side-footed effort hit the top of the crossbar and bounced over to ensure Madrid progressed.
Venezia win a boost for Liverpool and Inter clashes, says Fonseca
Paulo Fonseca believes Milan gained a much-needed confidence boost from their 4-0 win over Venezia with big clashes against Liverpool and Inter coming up.
The 51-year-old had already come under pressure after a lacklustre start to life at Milan, with two draws and a defeat in their opening three games.
However, a comfortable home victory over Venezia eased some of that, as Milan scored four goals in the opening 30 minutes of a match for the first time since October 1958.
"Our season already started four rounds ago, we dropped points and need to recover lost ground, but it was important to win and to win like this. It gives the players confidence to keep growing," Fonseca told Sky Sports Italia.
While Saturday's victory offered some relief for the Portuguese coach, the real test awaits when Milan host Liverpool in their Champions League opener on Tuesday, followed by a derby against Inter next weekend.
"I have to be honest, I've already started thinking about both games against Liverpool and Inter. I realise the importance of the derby. Liverpool will be very difficult, but I cannot deny I have already started studying Inter, too," Fonseca said.
"I know what it means to the fans, we are working to have good performances in both matches."
Fonseca denied that recent protests from fans, including banners placed in the stands just before kick-off warning that things needed to turn around quickly, threw him off balance.
"I think as a coach that I have to deal with these situations with balance, stay focused on my work and ignore everything around us," he said.
"Milan is a club that always has the pressure to win. If we coaches don't want this pressure, then we shouldn’t be coaches."
LA Galaxy 4-2 Los Angeles FC: Hosts claim playoff spot with stunning second-half comeback
LA Galaxy stunned derby rivals Los Angeles FC on Saturday with a superb second-half comeback to seal a 4-2 victory.
They overturned a 2-0 half-time lead with four unanswered goals around Lewis O'Brien's sending-off, becoming the first team in the Western Conference to clinch a playoff spot.
Mateusz Bogusz gambled by peeling away to the back post and was in the right place to head Denis Bouanga's deflected cross into the back of the net after just four minutes.
Just 11 minutes later, Bouanga made another driving run down the left and went for goal himself, drilling a low shot past John McCarthy from a tight angle. They could have had a third before the break, but Olivier Giroud's half-volley struck the inside of the post.
Dejan Joveljic got his first, rifling into the roof of the net after a wonderful turn, and just two minutes later, Edwin Cerrillo scored a stunning goal of his own, beating Hugo Lloris from distance by curling it in off the outside of his boot.
Joveljic's second was opportunistic – he stuck out a leg to help Riqui Puig's strike past a wrong-footed Lloris from just in front of the goal line.
O'Brien was then shown a straight red card for a lunging challenge on Miki Yamane before Puig rounded off the scoring with a whipped effort into the near post.
Data Debrief: Home advantage
To use an old cliche, it was a game of two halves, with LA Galaxy proving just why they are top of the table, and eight points clear of LAFC, in a brilliant second 45 minutes.
However, this is the first time they have won after trailing at half-time in MLS since March 24 against Sporting Kansas City, which they won 3-2, ending a seven-game run.
The Galaxy have now won 11 of their last 12 regular-season matches at Dignity Health Sports Park (D1), including the last nine in a row.
Kompany: Too early for top spot to mean anything to Bayern
Bayern Munich went top of the Bundesliga with a 6-1 demolition of Holstein Kiel on Saturday, but it means little to Vincent Kompany as they look to reclaim their dominance in the domestic league.
Bayern's stranglehold of the German top-flight was broken last season with Bayer Leverkusen winning the title in a record-breaking undefeated run, and the Bavarians are eager to restore order this season.
Bayern are on a maximum nine points with three wins, two ahead of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig, after Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in their win at Kiel.
They enjoyed an explosive opening to the match, netting three times in the first 13 minutes as Kiel made a nightmare start peppered with defensive errors, en route to a fourth straight win in all competitions this season under Kompany.
"I have said that this is just three games. I know, I know, for Bayern it is always important [to be in top spot] but it is three games at the moment," Kompany told a press conference.
"Today it was good and then Tuesday must be good again and then again, and that's the way it goes again.
"If we continue as we do now, maybe at the end of the season... I don't even want to say it. We just have to keep going."
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