Benfica 5-1 Brugge (agg 7-1)
Didn't watch this one, looks like I didn't miss anything. Of the 16 teams here, Brugge was easily the least of them--so much so that it's hard to tell how good Benfica actually is. They look capable of pushing forward and attacking but we'll see in the quarterfinals. Obviously a great season for Brugge.
Chelsea 2-0 Dortmund (agg 2-1)
Chelsea was the better team throughout and 2-1 aggregate was probably about right....but....man, that PK was wonky, bro. I don't think I've ever seen an encroachment call so I'm not exactly sure what the rule says but look at this pic:
Chelsea is the one encroaching, right? Yes, one of the Dortmund defenders is in the box but clearly he is reacting to the Chelsea attacker--so how is that an infraction on Dortmund? I dunno, man, felt like the ref was determined to make sure Chelsea finished this PK. Oh well, Chelsea was the better side throughout and 2-1 over the course of 180 minutes is probably right, but...if I were Dortmund I'd be pretty pissed.
Bayern Munich 2-0 Paris St. Germain (agg 3-0)
I never fail to be shocked by how casually PSG takes the Champions League, they just didn't show up again though their stacked roster seemed prime to best Bayern. PSG had their moments but Bayern was consistently the better attacking side, much more dangerous around the goal and they got the finishing touches they needed. Is PSG one of those teams that just can't win? Is Bayern really this dominant? I dunno. I'm certain that Bayern doesn't suck but I'm not yet sure they are the team to beat.
Tottenham 0-0 AC Milan (agg 0-1)
A bit of a snooze of a match. No one really controlled much of anything and yet the back-and-forth action was never particularly compelling. Milan scored early in the 1st leg and from then on both sides kept each other from doing much. Just a perfect matchup or is AC Milan lucky to be in the quarters?
Manchester City 7-0 Leipzig (agg 8-1)
Well, this one was over quick. Probably over after the first goal--definitely over after the second goal--Leipzig just never got going and by halftime looked really uninterested in playing soccer any more. Like, I felt bad for Leipzig--clearly God did not want them to win this game! Man City was obviously the better team but a result like this is more than just better-ness. Again, such a walkover that its hard to tell how good Man City actually is.
Porto 0-0 Inter Milan (agg 0-1)
Didn't see this one, seems like I didn't miss much. I enjoyed the 1st leg but I wasn't able to catch the return match.
Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool (agg 6-2)
Over before it began, bit of a lackluster match, actually. Real had moments in the 2nd half where they were having fun out there but Liverpool just looked like they were running in mud the whole time. Wow, the first ten minutes of the 1st leg was so different from the 170 minutes that followed! Real looks like the best team (unless you think Bayern's mastery of PSG was for real).
Napoli 3-0 Eintracht Frankfurt (agg 5-0)
Napoli was better throughout, controlled the pace all through the first half, scored right before the half and that was probably it. I thought the two sides were fairly evenly matched but Frankfurt just could not get going in the return match and this was an easy one for Napoli. Just a fortuitous matchup or is Napoli really this dangerous? I'm ready to find out.
The quarterfinal matches:
Real Madrid v Chelsea (Gotta go with Real though Chelsea is gonna be ready)
Benfica v Inter Milan (No idea...both sides had such weird R16 matchups that I have no idea which one is superior)
Manchester City v Bayern (Fun one, but I think Bayern will move on)
AC Milan v Napoli (Again: no idea! Two Italian teams (what NFL-ers would think of as a Division game), they probably have their own rivalry that I don't even understand, my gut is Milan is better but I dunno)
