3️⃣ things we learned from Wednesday's Champions League action | OneFootball

The Champions League quarter-finals are shaping up, with Real Madrid and Manchester City joining PSG and Bayern Munich in the pot on Wednesday night.

Here is what we made of events on the continent.

Real Madrid have match winners but need to shape up for the last eight

Real Madrid might be into the last eight of the Champions League once again, but it was far from convincing.

Over both legs, Los Blancos were second best against an RB Leipzig side, who will be wondering how they only scored once across 180 minutes – more on that later.

Real have an aura in Europe and it seemed to work in their favour tonight, as it has in recent years against the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. Of course, it also helps that Carlo Ancelotti has some of the best players in the world at his disposal.

Their goal tonight came as a result of link-up between three of those superstars. Toni Kroos found Jude Bellingham with a lovely pass, and the Englishman then moved towards the box before slowing down to find the pass to match the perfect run of Vinícius Júnior. The brilliant Brazilian made no mistake from inside the box.

That moment of magic followed Brahim Díaz’s wonder goal in the first-leg, that made Willi Orbán’s late goal nothing more than a scant consolation in the end.

Was it complacency from Real or were they just happy to rely on their stars to deliver?

Whatever it was, they will need to improve quickly if number 15 is to come to the Bernabéu.

Haaland continues to be the difference maker in Europe

Like Thanos in the Marvel Universe, Erling Haaland is inevitable in Europe, and everywhere else to be honest.

The Norwegian scored yet again tonight in Manchester City’s comfortable 3-1 second leg victory over FC Copenhagen that sees them into the last-eight for a seventh straight season.

It was his 41st strike in the Champions League, tying him with perhaps City’s best ever goalscorer, Sergio Agüero, in the all-time rankings. One small difference though, it has taken Haaland just 37 games to do so, a scoring rate better than anyone in the competition’s history.

His six goals in this season’s competition put him level with Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé in the scoring charts, as he chases another top scorer award and another Champions League title before he reaches the age of 24.

In truth, anything else would come as a slight surprise.

Leipzig will rue missed chances and dodgy decisions

While Real can count themselves lucky to be in next week’s quarter final draw, RB Leipzig will be ruing the one that got away on their flight home from Madrid.

Across both legs, the Bundesliga side missed a series of gilt-edged opportunities in front of goal, with Willi Orbán’s late goal tonight much less than they deserved over 180 minutes.

Benjamin Šeško showed off all of his raw ability but was the prime culprit in the first leg, albeit the one ball he did put in the net was wrongly disallowed. If that early strike had stood, maybe things might have been different.

Nonetheless, Marco Rose’s side seemed to panic at the Bernabéu once they got into position to strike, often choosing the wrong option or simply fluffing their lines. Some last-ditch Madrid defending also played a part in fairness.

Will Leipzig ever get a better shot at toppling one of Europe’s super-heavyweights? It will be the thought on the mind of everyone connected with the club in the coming days.