Stefano Pioli insisted "nobody is perfect or unbeatable" as Milan prepare to overthrow Napoli in the all-Italian Champions League quarter-final clash.

Milan and Napoli will meet for the first time in European competition on April 12 in the first leg at San Siro, with Luciano Spalletti's side flying high in Serie A and UEFA's top club competition.

The Partenopei are 19 points clear at the Italian top-flight summit and suggested by many as a potential challenger for the European crown.

But Milan have only lost one of their nine all-Italian showdowns in Europe (W4 D4) and Pioli sees no reason why the Rossoneri cannot dream of progressing past Spalletti's in-form side.

The Milan coach said: "Honestly, I'd rather not meet an Italian side. In the Champions League it's better to face a foreign club. Napoli are very strong but we want to play for it.

"They have shown great consistency, strength and quality, they have all the characteristics of a great team, but nobody is perfect or unbeatable."

Pioli's side have not reached the last eight in the Champions League since the 2011-12 term when they were eliminated by Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.

Milan last went beyond that stage in the 2006-07 season en route to lifting the trophy but overcoming Napoli will prove an incredibly difficult challenge.

Napoli have won each of their past three away matches against the Rossoneri, their best such run against them, although they have not triumphed in any of their past five trips to Milan in cup competitions.

Pioli wants to build on Milan's Champions League history but says the Rossoneri cannot take their eyes off the Serie A top-four battle, leading fifth-placed Roma by just a point.

"It's part of the history of this club and the path it has always followed," he added. "We are beginning to write our history, that of Milan in the Champions League is a different path from ours.

"When you go to San Siro to play the Champions League it is something exciting and spectacular that involves everyone.

"We are very busy but we are also focusing on the league. To make this season a positive one, we have to play in the Champions League next year. We have to be careful."

Before the mouthwatering European meeting, Milan visit Napoli in Serie A on Sunday with the Rossoneri's Scudetto soon seemingly heading for Naples.

Pioli's side have been unable to replicate their exploits from last season's title-winning campaign, though the Italian suggested Milan's young side would always struggle to defend their title.

"I don't think there are many teams in Europe that immediately win the second league," he continued. "We won with a very young team, thanks to a project and a club path we are proud of.

"We are one of the few clubs with a sustainable project; only a few teams manage to win and be competitive in Europe.

"That is a leap that we have not yet been able to make but this year too gives us the opportunity to understand great things, to improve and be the strongest club."

Another week, another landmark for Lionel Messi as the Argentina superstar scored his 800th career goal in Thursday's friendly against Panama.

It's been an almighty journey for the all-time great, who has basically won everything on offer and claimed a record haul of seven Ballons d'Or along the way.

The player regarded by many as the greatest ever, Messi reached his latest milestone with a picture-perfect free kick in the 89th minute against Panama, curling one into the top corner after crashing two prior free kicks into the crossbar.

Although Messi hits new landmarks so frequently, at the age of 35 he is approaching a point where such achievements will become a little rarer.

With that in mind, it's worth celebrating Messi and his feats while we still can – therefore, Stats Perform has delved into the Opta data behind his latest accomplishment.

On the receiving end

It's nearly 18 years since Messi's first goal in professional football. Then a floppy-haired 17-year-old, he latched on to a Ronaldinho pass before lifting a clever lob over Albacete goalkeeper Raul Valbuena on May 1, 2005.

That goal has since become famous given its significance in marking the arrival of Messi – it also left a mark on the career of Valbuena.

"The press calls me every time he's broken a record or achieved something important, especially press from Catalonia," he told Marca nine years later. "To me, it's a funny anecdote in my career as a goalkeeper."

Well, it's all right for some. Many goalkeepers have had to contend with Messi smashing past them a few more times than Valbuena's single concession.

In total, 232 goalkeepers had let in a goal against Messi before Thursday. No one conceded more than Diego Alves, however, with the Brazilian beaten 21 times. Iker Casillas is a close second (19).

Returning the favour

Of course, over his career Messi has also become synonymous with creativity, routinely setting up goals for his team-mates.

But, given how many he's scored, he's also had to benefit from plenty of service from his colleagues as well – when he's not doing it all himself.

There are several players with whom he's struck up particularly effective on-pitch relationships.

For years, his combination with Dani Alves was unrivalled, the Brazilian setting up 42 of Messi's goals, but then along came Luis Suarez.

Suarez, Messi and Neymar were a revered and feared front three, their understanding on the pitch so deadly. The Uruguayan ended up assisting 47 goals for Messi across their six years together, with no one else teeing him up more often.

Messi also has his favourite clubs to score against. Impressively, Real Madrid (26) are right up there – but there are four teams he has punished more.

Athletic Bilbao (29), Valencia (31) and Atletico Madrid (32) all struggled against him, but if there has been one team who have resembled lambs to the slaughter when facing Messi, it's Sevilla (38).

Heights few have reached

The world of football numbers can be a little muddy. What constitutes an official goal? What's an official competition?

As such, there has been lots of confusion regarding the 'official' goals hauls of players down the years – we're looking at you, Pele and Romario.

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) considers Cristiano Ronaldo to be the world record holder, stating in December 2021 that the Portugal forward was the first player to reach 800 official career goals.

This makes Messi the second to reach that figure, with Opta corroborating his career record. There remains a possibility he will eventually reach 1,000. No one is expecting him to get there soon, though.

After all, as good as he remains, achievements like scoring 91 times in a calendar year – as he managed in 2012 – appear to be beyond him these days.

That was his best ever year, which – perhaps unsurprisingly – coincided with his most prolific season (2011-12), when he scored 82 goals.

Still, the 35 goals he plundered in 2022 wasn't a bad return, especially given that haul included seven en route to World Cup success with Argentina.

Still to come?

There aren't many records at Barcelona that don't already belong to Messi. Top scorer? Done. Most appearances? Completed it. The most-photographed person at Camp Nou? Probably.

It seems unlikely Messi will be around at PSG long enough to have the same kind of impact there, but he certainly still has career targets in sight.

There's the aforementioned 1,000 goals landmark, though before then he will have his eyes on more international achievements.

Messi's free kick to seal Thursday's 2-0 win left him just one from reaching 100 with Argentina, and after that he'll perhaps have designs on usurping both Ali Daei (109) and Ronaldo (120), the two highest-scoring players in men's international football.

Similarly, with Ronaldo now out of the way in Saudi Arabia, Messi could also take his record for the most Champions League goals (140) – Messi is on 129.

But regardless of what else he does or doesn't go on to achieve, Thursday's milestone is just another reminder of how fortunate we've been to witness Messi's truly remarkable career.

UEFA has opened an investigation after Inter supporters were denied entry to Tuesday's Champions League tie with Porto despite having tickets for the match.

Footage emerged on social media ahead of the last-16 second leg showing hundreds of fans queueing to get into Estadio do Dragao as the game kicked off.

Porto had announced earlier in the day that Inter spectators who had purchased tickets in the home end, even if through the club, would be turned away.

But Inter claim an agreement was reached for their fans to attend the game if they wore neutral colours.

European football governing body UEFA confirmed on Wednesday that the matter is being looked into.

“UEFA had been made aware that a large contingent of visiting supporters had procured tickets in home sectors of the stadium," a spokesperson said. 

"The UEFA regulations stipulate that five per cent of the stadium capacity must be provided to the visiting team in a segregated area for their supporters.

"The responsibility for the safe and secure management of spectators and the associated ticketing policy are determined by the match organiser and the relevant authorities.

"Mitigation measures were discussed between both clubs. UEFA is currently looking into the matter."

Inter claimed a goalless draw to advance through to the Champions League quarter-finals as 1-0 aggregate winners.

The Italian club's chief executive Beppe Marotta dedicated the result to those who were unable to get into the ground.

"We celebrate this passage that Inter had not achieved for 12 years, we give the credit to our coach, our players and the fans who were present," he told Sky Italia.

"I also want to spare a thought for circa a thousand fans who were left outside the stadium even after regularly purchasing a ticket. 

"I saw footage of families who were locked outside, children crying who had flown here from Italy. 

"Football must represent unity and joy, so this is a bitter page in what was otherwise a wonderful evening.

"We had met with the local authorities this morning and they assured us the fans would be allowed in even beyond those limits of the away section. Instead, this did not happen.

"These were for the most part families with children, who certainly weren't here to perpetrate acts of violence, but to support their team. 

"I don't believe the situation was so serious as to ban their entry.

"We realise UEFA are not to blame, but we feel that with a formal complaint we can prevent this sort of thing ever happening again."

Jurgen Klopp is under no illusion as to the scale of the task facing his Liverpool side as they look to overturn a 5-2 deficit in their Champions League tie with Real Madrid.

After going 2-0 up in the first leg at Anfield, the Reds were put to the sword by Madrid as Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema each scored twice and Eder Militao also found the net.

It leaves Liverpool needing to pull off another Champions League miracle to reach the quarter-finals of the competition and keep their hopes of winning a trophy this season alive.

Liverpool have relatively recent history of overturning a three-goal first-leg deficit. They are one of just four teams to have progressed from a Champions League tie having lost the first leg by three or more goals, doing so in 2019 when they beat Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield in the semi-finals after losing 3-0 at Camp Nou.

Repeating the feat against Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu is an even taller order.

Madrid have progressed from 26 of their previous 27 European Cup or Champions League knockout ties when winning the first leg away from home, with the exception being a defeat to Ajax at this stage in 2018-19 (2-1 away, 1-4 at home).

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Klopp was keen not to raise hopes of Liverpool, who will be without Jordan Henderson due to illness, doing the seemingly impossible 

"If there is only one per cent chance I would like to give it a try, we are here to play an extremely strong opponent and try to win the game," said Klopp. 

"As difficult as it is, that's probably possible. Not likely but possible. We respect the competition too much, we respect the opposition too much to not look forward to this game."

Liverpool have endured an erratic season, losing eight games in the Premier League, six more defeats than they suffered in the entirety of last season.

In addition to shipping five goals to Madrid, Liverpool were also beaten 4-1 by Napoli in the group stage.

But, with Liverpool having also hammered Manchester United 7-0 nine days ago, it was put to Klopp that this strange season could be the perfect one in which to pull off such a turnaround against Madrid.

"If we can surprise ourselves in a negative way, we should be able to surprise ourselves in a positive way too," he responded. 

"We are not here and telling Madrid 'be careful we are coming'. We're here to try to win the game. We have to play extremely good. If we play a normal game or a good game, it won’t be enough.

"I think in this room, 100 per cent of the people in this room think we have no chance. We are the complete outsiders. It's the situation, it's football and we try to give it a go."

Trent Alexander-Arnold says Liverpool must give their all against Real Madrid after showing an "unacceptable" lack of fight in their Premier League defeat to Bournemouth.

Liverpool were unable to build on their famous 7-0 win over Manchester United last weekend, as Phillip Billing's first-half strike earned Bournemouth a 1-0 home win on Saturday.

Mohamed Salah missed a penalty for the Reds, who managed just one shot on target in the second half as they chased a goal at Vitality Stadium.

It is the first time since the 2010-11 season Liverpool have lost consecutive league games against sides bottom of the table, having also lost to Nottingham Forest in October.

Alexander-Arnold, who was replaced with 25 minutes to play, accepts his side's performance on England's south coast was simply not good enough.

"This is the time of the season when everyone knows what they are fighting for and obviously Bournemouth are in a relegation battle, so they are fighting for survival," he said. 

"But every team in the league is fighting for something, so it means a lot to get the three points and I think looking back on it now, they probably wanted it more than us.

"That is something that is unacceptable and we need to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

Liverpool have failed to win an away game against all three promoted clubs in a single Premier League campaign for only the third time, also doing so in 2010-11 and 2003-04.

Jurgen Klopp's side are six points adrift of fourth-place Tottenham with a game in hand, with their next league game – away at Manchester City – not until April 1.

The Reds travel to Real Madrid on Wednesday in their final game before the international break, aiming to overturn a 5-2 deficit in their Champions League last-16 second leg.

"It's a huge one for us," Alexander-Arnold said of that showdown with the reigning Spanish and European champions. "It's one that we need to go and do something special.

"All our focus is solely on that Real Madrid game now and it means that we can put everything into that game knowing that we've got days afterwards to recover. 

"It's about throwing the kitchen sink at it and going all out and I think that's what we're going to do – it's important to do that. Then we'll get ready for an important run-in."

Liverpool have lost six of their past seven Champions League game against Madrid, having won their first three meetings with Los Blancos in the European Cup.

Richarlison accused Tottenham of under-playing him after a painful Champions League exit at the hands of Milan, blaming his lack of action for a "s***" season.

The goalless draw at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday saw Spurs go out 1-0 on aggregate at the last-16 stage.

Brazil forward Richarlison came on as a substitute after 70 minutes but could not help the hosts find a breakthrough. He has managed just two club goals this season, despite starting 12 games and appearing as a substitute on 13 occasions.

The former Everton and Watford player claims there have been broken promises along the way and hinted at frustration with head coach Antonio Conte.

Speaking frankly, he said: "There is frustration, of course. We're out of the biggest club competition. We can't play like that, needing to score. The team had to play more offensively, especially in the second half.

"There's not a lot to say now, we can't go chasing someone to take the blame. Now there's only the Premier League to play, a training session tomorrow and a match against [Nottingham] Forest in the next round.

"I was playing well, we won against Chelsea and West Ham, and suddenly I was on the bench. I played five minutes against Wolves, asked the reason and no one told me why."

Richarlison said he was told he would start against Milan if he passed a fitness test on Tuesday, but then he found himself benched.

"There are things I can't understand. There was no explanation again," he said. "Let's see what he will tell us tomorrow, but I'm not silly, I'm a professional that works hard every day and I want to play. There hasn't been enough minutes given to me.

"This season, and forgive my language, has been s***. I don't have enough minutes, was injured for a bit, but when I'm on the pitch I give my life.

"I played well in two games, especially against Chelsea, so I think I should have played tonight, but I can't go on crying about it now.

"We have around 15 games to play now and the focus is that. I'll try to score as many goals as I can because the club has paid a lot of money for me and I haven't given enough back on the pitch yet."

It remains to be seen what the ramifications are of his outburst on Wednesday night, and whether his show of passion helps or weakens his case to be included more often.

Tottenham have the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and Ivan Perisic pushing for attacking places, and Conte cannot include them all and Richarlison.

Yet Spurs, eliminated from the FA Cup by second-tier Sheffield United last week, have failed to net in three straight games for the first time since between April and May 2019.

It might be time to start with the 25-year-old Richarlison, who said of his season's travails: "It's fair to say my injuries didn't help, and I haven't had enough minutes. But now I'll go home, rest, train tomorrow and see if he'll put me in the first eleven next game."

Kylian Mbappe insisted Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich will not affect his future as the striker focuses on the Ligue 1 title.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry's second-half strikes at Allianz Arena on Wednesday secured a 2-0 victory for Bayern and a 3-0 aggregate triumph in the last-16 clash.

Defeat marked a second straight Champions League elimination in the first knockout round for PSG, who have repeatedly had to battle interest from Real Madrid to keep Mbappe in the French capital.

The France international previously refuted suggestions a European crown will dictate his future and reiterated that message after another miserable PSG outing on the continental stage.

When asked by reporters whether the elimination would impact his future, Mbappe said: "No, no, I'm calm, the only thing that matters to me this season is winning the championship and then we'll see."

Christophe Galtier's side sit eight points clear at the Ligue 1 summit as they aim to defend their French top-flight crown.

However, Mauricio Pochettino was dismissed just last season for failing in the same Champions League round, in which they lost a dramatic tie against Carlo Ancelotti's eventual champions Madrid.

PSG have played 137 games in UEFA's top club competition without lifting the trophy, only Arsenal (177) have endured a longer such run in the competition, excluding qualifiers.

Galtier's visitors were somewhat unfortunate in Munich, though, as Vitinha saw his first-half effort towards an open goal cleared by a remarkable Matthijs de Ligt goal-line intervention.

Mbappe acknowledged there was little to separate the two heavyweight sides, though that did little to quash his frustration.

The 24-year-old added: "We are disappointed. That's how it is, we have to move on, try to challenge everyone.

"We didn't miss much when we look at the state of the two teams, [but] they have a team built to win the Champions League.

"At the start of the season, during the first Champions League press conference, I said that we were going to do our best and give our maximum.

"We're going to question ourselves and go back to our day-to-day life in Ligue 1."

Antonio Conte believes Tottenham have taken "a step forward" this season, despite their final chance of silverware being ended by Milan on Wednesday.

Spurs were unable to overturn a 1-0 deficit from last month's Champions League last-16 first leg as they played out a 0-0 draw in the return fixture at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Despite knowing they needed a goal to stay in the tie, Spurs failed to muster a single attempt on target in the first half and only seriously troubled Mike Maignan once all game.

The Milan goalkeeper produced a fine save to keep out Harry Kane's late header, which came after Cristian Romero was sent off for two bookable offences.

It means Tottenham's wait for a trophy of any sort will stretch into a 16th year, with a top-four battle in the Premier League all they have to fight for this campaign.

But after failing to qualify for the Champions League in the past two seasons, and struggling in the Europa Conference League last year, Conte is focusing on the positives.

"If I have to see a positive situation, it's that we had a step forward," he told BT Sport. "We played in the Conference League last year and weren't able to get out of the group. 

"Now we took a step forward but it is not enough and if we want to be competitive, we have to fight."

Spurs, eliminated from the FA Cup by second-tier Sheffield United last week, have failed to net in three straight games for the first time since between April and May 2019.

They finished with an expected goals (xG) value of 0.45 in their second leg against Milan, compared to 1.4 for their opponents.

"That is the third game in a row that we were not able to score," Conte said. "I think the game was in the balance. I think we can do much better offensively. 

"I speak about the whole team, not only those who play in the front half of the field. We can do much better.

"I can't tell anything negative about the commitment of the players. They gave everything from the start to the end."

Wednesday marked the first time Tottenham have been held to a goalless draw at home in any competition since doing so against Swansea City in September 2017, a run spanning 147 games.

Tottenham, bar Kane's late header, failed to offer any sort of attacking threat and were booed off both at half-time and full-time by their supporters.

"In our mind we wanted to put pressure on them with intensity, but in the first half we found it difficult offensively," Conte said of Spurs' tentative approach.

"We found space to receive the ball and create one-v-ones, but we struggled. We felt a bit of pressure. I think they need to play regularly this type of game to try to improve.

"I think everybody wants to go to the next round. In the first game we lost a good chance. Milan were without important players then, like us.

"We have to continue to work. We have another game that we have to recover for. We have to try to reach the best possible position at the end of the season."

Spurs return to action on Saturday with a home match against Forest in the Premier League, before travelling to Southampton in their final game before the international break.

Bayern Munich were indebted to Matthijs de Ligt's heroics against Paris Saint-Germain and Yann Sommer offered the centre-back a sweet reward for his pivotal Champions League intervention.

Julian Nagelsmann's side recorded a 3-0 aggregate triumph in the last-16 on Wednesday after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry secured a 2-0 second-leg triumph at Allianz Arena.

However, PSG should have twice restored parity in the tie in the first half as Alphonso Davies thwarted Lionel Messi from close range before De Ligt cleared off the line with Vitinha firing at an open goal.

The latter chance came from an inexplicable Sommer error as he squandered possession inside his own area and the goalkeeper joked a deserved treat will await for De Ligt's last-ditch efforts.

"I will leave a truck filled with Swiss chocolate on his doorstep!," Sommer said on DAZN, before attempting to explain his error.

"The problem was, I had my solution to pass to [Josip] Stanisic but it was closed, then I had no more solution," he added.

"It was unbelievable what De Ligt was doing there, of course, I'm not happy with [my part] in the scene. 

"It's amazing how he thinks and saves me. If that goes wrong, then this game looks very different."

De Ligt's hooked clearance at full stretch proved the difference as Bayern kept a fourth straight clean sheet in the Champions League, their longest run in the competition without conceding.

While Sommer hailed his centre-back team-mate, Gianluigi Donnarumma was left to rue a "disappointing" performance as PSG were dumped out at the last-16 stage in Europe for a second straight term.

"There's a lot of disappointment in the dressing room," the Italy international told Canal Plus. 

"In the Champions League, the small details make the difference. We could have done better in the first half, we didn't. We're all annoyed and disappointed."

Stefano Pioli is dreaming of going all the way with Milan in this season's Champions League after overcoming Tottenham in the first knockout round.

Milan held Tottenham to a goalless draw in Wednesday's last-16 second leg in north London to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory and a place in next week's quarter-final draw.

Mike Maignan made a superb save late on to deny Harry Kane, but Milan finished the game with an expected goals (xG) return of 1.37 compared to 0.46 for Spurs.

It is the first time since the 2011-12 campaign that Milan have reached the final eight of the competition, and Pioli is excited for what is to come.

"We were good today. We asked the team to play with personality," he told Prime Video. "We never gave up and it's a well-deserved passage through the next round. 

"We have to take one step at a time. It was important to get through the group, then the round of 16, and now we'll wait for the [quarter-final] draw. 

"It's clear that we'll face a great team, but Tottenham were also a great team. Dreaming is nice; it helps you to work better.

"It's wonderful to play in the Champions League. So either we win it, which would not be easy, or try to qualify by finishing in the top four in Serie A."

Pioli, whose side are fifth in Serie A, added: "I like to think there's nothing impossible in sport. Clearly, only the best in Europe remain and each round gets more difficult.

"But I'm sure all the experiences in Europe – especially the negative ones – help us to step up a level. Now we must go into the quarter-final with confidence and belief."

Milan have kept four successive clean sheets in the Champions League for the first time since between April and October 2006.

Pioli's decision to revert to a three-man defence has paid off, with his side winning five games out of seven since then.

"I took this decision after the defeat against Sassuolo," Pioli said of the tactical switch. "It seems that the old system we used didn't work well. 

"The attitude has changed; the team works with more attention. We have three central defenders who are capable of playing in this system, so it was time to change."

Kane's late glancing header, which Maignan did well to get down and save, was the closest Tottenham went to scoring across both legs.

The hosts had Cristian Romero sent off for two bookable offences and Milan almost snatched a late winner on the day when Divock Origi broke clear but hit the post.

And former Arsenal striker Giroud, who played 81 minutes despite being a fitness doubt, believes Milan did enough to win the second leg.

"I told the lads we deserved to be in the Champions League last year and this season we want to go further," he said.

"We deserved to go through thanks to our determination. I think we could've won this second leg as well and it's a pity we didn't score as we had the clearest chances."

Christophe Galtier lamented Paris Saint-Germain's defensive errors after their Champions League last-16 elimination to Bayern Munich on Wednesday raised questions over his future.

PSG had no answer to a clinical second-half Bayern performance as Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry scored at Allianz Arena to secure a 2-0 win and 3-0 aggregate triumph.

That ensured back-to-back last-16 eliminations for PSG, who have played 137 Champions League games without lifting the trophy – only Arsenal (177) have endured a longer such run, excluding qualifiers.

Mauricio Pochettino was dismissed by PSG last season after falling at the same stage in Europe and Galtier, while expressing his commitment, acknowledged his future may be out of his hands.

The PSG coach told Canal Plus: "It's really too early to talk about it. My future obviously depends on the management and my president. 

"There is a disappointment, that's how it is. The club pinned a lot of hopes on this competition. I'm staying the course, I'm still focused on the end of the season with a lot of energy and determination."

PSG started the brighter of the two sides in Munich as Lionel Messi and Vitinha were both denied by last-ditch blocks, with the latter thwarted by a remarkable Matthijs de Ligt goal-line clearance in the first half.

Bayern grew into the game after the interval and deservedly progressed to their 21st Champions League quarter-final. No side has reached more in the competition's history.

That left Galtier ruing missed chances and lapses in concentration, with Marco Verratti easily dispossessed in his own half in the build-up to Choupo-Moting's 61st-minute opener against his former side.

"We didn't know how to score our opportunities," he added. "We had a good first period where we had situations. We were able to compete well, we had chances.

"But in the second half we conceded this really stupid goal, at this level you have to be calmer. Obviously, we were under pressure from Bayern, we knew that.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of playing long to break this pressure. After an hour, when you are behind, it's starting to be difficult.

"I don't know if it's a lesson to be learned, but it's a disappointment, a frustration. If we had opened the scoring, the match would have been different."

PSG lost captain Marquinhos to injury after 36 minutes with an apparent hip injury, while Neymar missed the clash after his season-ending ankle injury required surgery.

"We had a lot of important absentees in the first game, a lot of important absentees in the second game," Galtier responded when asked about the difference in quality.

"We had to change central defenders, obviously that weakened us. We must look ahead now."

Danilo Pereira echoed his coach's sentiment on needless errors after PSG failed to keep a clean sheet in any Champions League game this season for the first time in a single campaign.

"Unfortunately we have to say that Bayern were stronger than us," the Portugal international told Canal Plus. "We had chances in the first half, we didn't take them.

"When that's the case in the Champions League, it becomes difficult. We made mistakes. It's hard to go out like this, but it's the Champions League.

"We haven't won many duels. I have no words... To progress, we must all be together, we must do things together and not individually."

He added: "We must fight back from this because Paris is a great team. We must be proud of ourselves. We have great players here, who must work together to grow."

Thomas Muller acknowledged Bayern Munich needed some good fortune to overcome Paris Saint-Germain and reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Julian Nagelsmann's side were indebted to Matthijs de Ligt's goal-line clearance from Vitinha in the first half at Allianz Arena after Yann Sommer's error offered the PSG midfielder an open goal.

De Ligt subsequently hooked off the line, keeping Bayern 1-0 ahead in the tie after Kingsley Coman's first-leg strike, before Nagelsmann's men seized control of the return meeting.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting came back to haunt his former side PSG with a second-half strike before Serge Gnabry sealed progression, though Muller was thankful for the fine margins fell for Bayern.

"You have to be honest, in a football game like this there are always moments when you need luck on your side," Muller told DAZN.

"We had that one moment when Yann loses the ball, which Matt clears the ball on the line. If it goes to 1-0 there, you don't know how the teams will react to that.

"But we shed our shyness in the second half in particular, we were clearer in defence, so we played the better game in the second half and deserved to win."

A 3-0 aggregate triumph saw Bayern progress to the Champions League quarter-finals for the 21st time, no other club has managed to reach the last eight as often.

A battling performance, coupled with clinical finishing, marked continued progression under Nagelsmann, whose side have put a poor start to 2023 behind them to fight back in the Bundesliga title race.

Nagelsmann was disappointed with what he saw in the first half as PSG twice went close to levelling the tie on aggregate, but the Bayern coach was impressed with his team's second-half response.

"In the first half we did what we discussed before the game wrong, PSG pulled a lot of players into the build-up, we then let ourselves be pulled into position, were too impatient," he told DAZN.

"The spaces were too big. We had a lot of space with the ball, but we were too scared.

"We didn't do that anymore in the second half, we won the ball well and gained a lot of depth down the right. We were clearly better in the second half and deserved to win."

Milan held Tottenham to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday to preserve their 1-0 lead from the first leg and advance to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in 11 years.

Brahim Diaz's goal in the early stages of the reverse fixture gave Milan something to protect at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and they did exactly that in a game of few chances.

Neither side managed an attempt on target in the first half and, while Spurs did show more urgency in the second period, there was not enough quality to break down Milan.

Spurs, who had Cristian Romero sent off 11 minutes from time for a second bookable offence, have now exited the Champions League and FA Cup in the past week.

Kick-off was delayed due to traffic congestion around the stadium and neither side truly turned up in the first half.

The onus was on Tottenham to find a goal but Emerson's deflected shot, which failed to test Mike Maignan, was the best they could muster and they were booed off at half-time.

Stand-in Spurs goalkeeper Fraser Forster was called into action early in the second period when keeping out Diaz's shot with his feet.

Maignan was finally required with 63 minutes played, but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's angled drive was simple enough to deal with.

Romero flew into a challenge on Theo Hernandez to receive a second booking, yet Harry Kane so nearly salvaged extra time when his header was superbly kept out by Maignan.

There was to be no late drama, though, with Divock Origi going closest to making the breakthrough on the day when hitting the post at the end of a late breakaway attack.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting haunted former side Paris Saint-Germain as Bayern Munich reached the Champions League quarter-final with a 2-0 win that secured a 3-0 aggregate triumph.

Julian Nagelsmann's side progressed to the last eight in Europe for a fourth straight season after Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry's second-half strikes in the second leg on Wednesday.

Bayern were earlier indebted to Matthijs de Ligt, though, after his remarkable goal-line clearance thwarted Vitinha in the first half at Allianz Arena.

De Ligt's last-ditch intervention, coupled with Choupo-Moting's cool finish and a breakaway Gnabry goal, saw PSG fail to reach Champions League quarter-finals for a second consecutive season.

Aiming to overturn a one-goal first-leg deficit, PSG created the more promising chances in a first half bereft of cutting edge.

Alphonso Davies produced a last-ditch block to deny Lionel Messi from Nuno Mendes' offload, while Jamal Musiala forced a smart Gianluigi Donnarumma save at the other end.

PSG lost captain Marquinhos to an apparent hip injury soon after, before De Ligt cleared off the line from Vitinha after Yann Sommer's inexplicable error offered an open goal.

Choupo-Moting headed past Donnarumma after the interval, only for Thomas Muller's offside position to ensure the goal did not stand, but the striker was not to be denied.

Muller dispossessed Marco Verratti inside PSG's half before Leon Goretzka's selfless square pass afforded Choupo-Moting a simple 61st-minute tap-in.

Sommer then produced a stunning stop from Sergio Ramos' bullet header before Joao Cancelo teed up Gnabry, who made sure of progression with a composed 89th-minute finish.

Paris Saint-Germain were dealt another injury blow as captain Marquinhos limped off against Bayern Munich in Wednesday's Champions League last-16 clash.

Christophe Galtier's side have already lost Neymar for the rest of the season due to an ankle injury which requires surgery to repair ligament damage.

And Marquinhos added to those injury woes as he left the Allianz Arena pitch with an apparent hip injury despite not coming into contact with the ball or another player as his side defended a Bayern free-kick in the first half.

Nordi Mukiele replaced the Brazil international in the 36th minute as the Ligue 1 champions aimed to overturn a one-goal deficit from the Parc des Princes first leg in Europe's top club competition.

While the extent of the injury remains unclear, Galtier will hope to have key defender and skipper Marquinhos back soon as PSG aim to defend their Ligue 1 crown, sitting eight points clear at the summit.