Champions

Liverpool’s woes deepen as Ollie Watkins scores a brace to help his side to a dominant win at Villa Park.

Ollie Watkins scored twice as Aston Villa eased to a 4-2 Premier League victory over Liverpool to seal Champions League qualification for next ⁠season and leave their visitors looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack.

The win on Friday moves Villa into fourth place with 62 points from their 37 games, leapfrogging their opponents, who have 59 points from ⁠the same number of matches.

Liverpool remain vulnerable to being caught by both Bournemouth and Brighton in the race for a Champions League place as they slipped to a 12th defeat of the season with a single point from the last nine available.

Morgan Rogers gave Villa a first half lead before Virgil van ‌Dijk equalised for Liverpool early in the second period and then got another in added time.

But Watkins’ double and a brilliant late fourth from John McGinn sealed the win for Unai Emery’s side, who head into Wednesday’s Europa League final against Freiburg in buoyant mood.

“We had to get over the line,” McGinn told Sky Sports. It allows us to be excited and enjoy Wednesday properly.

“[Watkins] was obviously disappointed in March [being left out of the England squad] but if it gave him a kick ⁠up the backside, he’s certainly responded in the best way.

“We’re so fortunate to ⁠have him, what he’s done for this club the past few seasons has been incredible. Hopefully he can carry that into next week.”

Villa head to Istanbul to meet Freiburg with one of their major goals this season already achieved, and the chance ⁠to lift silverware to cap their campaign.

The hosts took the lead on 42 minutes against the run of play. Lucas Digne found Rogers in space ⁠on the left-hand side of the box and the forward curled ⁠it into the far corner.

Liverpool levelled on 52 minutes when Van Dijk headed home at the back post from Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick, before 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha struck the base of the post from the edge of the box.

But a slip from Szoboszlai ‌presented Watkins with a second goal for the home side, and Emiliano Buendia struck the Liverpool post with a curling shot as Villa looked the more likely to score again.

And so it proved as ‌Watkins ‌netted his second via a rebound from close range.

McGinn curled in a beautiful shot to make it 4-1 on 89 minutes, before Van Dijk’s second headed goal brought some respectability to the scoreline.

Liverpool manager ‌Arne Slot said he feels no added pressure after the defeat but admitted ⁠his side are conceding too many soft goals.

“It’s not about me, it’s about us being disappointed with the result,” Slot told the BBC. “I spoke yesterday on it [my future] and that’s enough.

“Our focus is on the Brentford game [next weekend] and making sure we earn the support of the fans by starting the game aggressive and ⁠well.”

Villa scored four times on Friday but might have had several ⁠more goals as they cut apart Liverpool’s defence.

“We have conceded a ⁠lot of goals this season, which you’d find hard to believe unless you live it and that’s what we did today,” he said.

“Villa were the better team and the game ‌went away from us.”

Champions League analysts Nedum Onuoha, Guillem Balague and Stephen Warnock look at two contentious handball decisions that weren’t awarded against Paris St-Germain, including a potential red card for Nuno Mendes and a possible penalty for Bayern Munich.

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Champions League analysts Stephen Warnock, Nedum Onuoha and Guillem Balague explain how Arsenal were able to “make life difficult” with the use of a man-to-man press high up the pitch to force Atletico Madrid to play the ball long in their semi-final second leg at the Emirates Stadium.

MATCH REPORT: Champions League – Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (2-1 agg)

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Their Spanish coach is the mastermind of this new PSG, built from the ashes of the superstar era which saw Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar the centrepieces of a dysfunctional, ego-ridden outfit who never resembled a team.

Luis Enrique, who also won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015, ordered his players to park egos at the door – or jettisoned those who would not.

In their place is the perfect combination of brilliant individual skill bolted on to a savage work ethic and defensive solidity that will make them a formidable hurdle for Arsenal to overcome.

And the leader is Marquinhos.

The Brazil centre-half arrived at PSG from Roma in 2013, surviving Luis Enrique’s cull of big names because the coach is wise enough to see a consummate professional and world-class defender when he sees one.

He has formed a superb partnership with the formidable Willian Pacho, who played a key role in keeping Kane under wraps until the England captain’s strike in the dying seconds.

Kvaratskhelia and Dembele combined for the game’s defining moment, while 20-year-old Desire Doue – the young face of the new PSG – tormented Vincent Kompany’s side, coming close on several occasions in the second half.

And yet the glue that held it all together was Marquinhos, still peerless at 31, and with the uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time while exuding calm authority.

To complete the picture, PSG’s midfield of Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves is the well-oiled engine room linking it all together.

Ruiz’s pass in the build-up to Dembele’s goal was a thing of beauty – but he then reverted to doing the defensive dirty work Luis Enrique demands and which his team seems only too happy to deliver.

Bukayo Saka reacts quickest as Leandro Trossard’s shot is saved by Jan Oblak, putting in the rebound from close range to give Arsenal a 1-0 lead against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Emiates Stadium.

MATCH REPORT: Champions League – Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (2-1 agg)

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It might seem odd to suggest an English club reaching a Champions League final have been in danger of going under the radar – but that has almost been the case for Arsenal this year.

Such has been the immense pressure piled upon Mikel Arteta’s side to end a 22-wait for a Premier League title, their remarkable unbeaten run to the European showpiece in Budapest has arguably not got the credit it deserves.

Bukayo Saka’s first-half tap-in gave the Gunners a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in Tuesday’s semi-final second leg, securing a 2-1 aggregate victory.

In truth, while their display at Emirates Stadium was not necessarily vintage, some of Arsenal‘s best performances of the season have come in Europe.

The Gunners remain the only unbeaten team left in the Champions League, defeating teams like Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Sporting along the way.

There has been a desperation to win the league – which, indeed, they could well go on to do as well given Manchester City‘s draw at Everton 24 hours before this semi-final.

But there has been a quiet ruthlessness in Arsenal‘s European games – rarely troubled, rarely in danger of going out.

“I don’t think you can underestimate what we have done in this competition up to this point,” midfielder Declan Rice told Amazon Prime.

“We have every right to celebrate that moment. The most prestigious competition in club football. We are just trying to soak it all in.

“We knew coming into the game what was at stake. If you can’t get up for that, then you can’t get up for any game of football.

“When we went 1-0 up, I knew we were going to win. I could feel something special building.”

The Arsenal supporters welcomed the team bus with flares and chants – the first time that has happened at the stadium – setting the tone and atmosphere for what Arteta described as “an incredible night”.

“We made history again together,” said Arteta. “I cannot be happier, prouder for everybody that’s involved in this football club. The manner that we [were] received outside the stadium was special and unique.

“The atmosphere, our support has created the energy, the way they managed every ball with us… I never felt that in the stadium [before].

“We knew how much it meant to everybody… the boys did an incredible job and after 20 years and a second time in our history, we are back in the Champions League final.”

Bukayo Saka seals a 1-0 win for Arsenal as they take their Champions League semifinal 2-1 on aggregate against Atletico.

Arsenal has reached the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years as Bukayo Saka sealed a 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid.

Mikel Arteta’s side settled the semifinal second leg with Saka’s strike late in the first half at an ecstatic Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.

The Gunners, who drew 1-1 in the first leg in Madrid last week, held firm after Saka’s goal to go through 2-1 on aggregate.

Arsenal will face Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich in the final in Budapest on May 30.

Holders PSG, who beat Arsenal in the semifinals last year, have a 5-4 lead ahead of the second leg in Munich on Wednesday.

It was a cathartic night for Arsenal, who are back in the Champions League final for the first time since losing 2-1 to Barcelona in their only previous appearance in the showpiece in 2006.

Arsenal have never won the Champions League, with their two major European trophies coming in the 1994 Cup Winners’ Cup and the 1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Their last continental final ended in a 4-1 defeat against Chelsea in the 2019 Europa League.

It is shaping up to be Arsenal’s greatest ever season as they chase a Premier League and Champions League double.

Even Arsene Wenger’s “Invincibles”, who won the club’s last English title in an unbeaten top-flight campaign in 2004, might have to bow to the current generation if they finish the job.

Fittingly, it was Saka, the homegrown symbol of the Arteta era, who proved Arsenal’s match-winner.

Now just four games from immortality, Premier League leaders Arsenal were given a huge boost in the title race when second-placed Manchester City drew at Everton on Monday.

The Gunners will be crowned champions if they win their last three games against West Ham United, Burnley and Crystal Palace.

Once the title is decided, Arsenal will head to Hungary with a maiden Champions League crown in their sights.

Arsenal endured jibes about their perceived lack of mental strength after a run of four defeats in six games, in all competitions, sparked painful memories of previous failures to end their six-year wait for silverware.

But the “nearly-men” and “serial choker” labels applied only weeks ago are on the verge of being banished forever.

Thousands of Arsenal supporters massed outside the stadium before kickoff to greet their team with flares and flags, a vociferous display of affection underlining Arsenal’s desperation to make history.

It was the kind of evening in north London when nothing was beyond the realm of possibility as Arsenal moved closer to casting off the shackles of two decades of underachievement.

After some tense performances during the Premier League run-in, Saturday’s 3-0 rout of Fulham showed Arsenal at their flowing best, a riposte to the critics who claim they only win ugly.

This was a more prosaic display, but no one with an affinity for Arsenal was bothered in the slightest.

Arsenal were nearly caught on the counter in a frenetic start when Julian Alvarez shot just wide before Giuliano Simeone’s close-range effort deflected past the post.

But Arsenal recovered from those anxious moments to deliver a dominant spell, which brought their 44th-minute goal.

Viktor Gyokeres’s clever run unhinged the Atletico defence, and his cross reached Leandro Trossard inside the area.

Trossard wriggled into just enough space for a low drive that Jan Oblak weakly pushed out to Saka, who reacted quicker than his flat-footed markers to slot home from 4 yards (3.7 metres).

Arteta jubilantly punched the air as the Emirates erupted into a roiling red sea of celebration.

Atletico tried to ruin the party in the second half, but Gabriel Magalhaes made a last-ditch tackle on Simeone to avert a certain goal before David Raya repelled Antoine Griezmann’s blast.

Arteta recently revealed that he had visualised Arsenal conquering the Champions League, even in the difficult early days of his reign.

The Spaniard is now just one win away from seeing the daydream become a glorious reality.

BBC Sport experts Stephen Warnock and Nedum Onuoha analyse the difference between the attacking trios of Bayern Munich and PSG following their Champions League semi-final first leg.

READ MORE: A record-breaking semi-final – the antidote to modern football?

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Follow the build-up, analysis and live text commentary of the semifinal first-leg from Parc des Princes in Paris.

Who: Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal
What: Champions League semifinal, first leg
Where: Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid, Spain
When: Wednesday, April 29 at 9pm (19:00 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 16:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.

Arsenal’s record as the only unbeaten football team in this season’s Champions League will be tested in the intense atmosphere of the Metropolitano Stadium.

The Gunners have conceded just five goals in 12 games so far, the kind of record associated with Atletico during coach Diego Simeone’s long reign of feisty football.

But this is a more expansive Atletico side, with a surprising 26 goals conceded in 14 Champions League games this season, while Julian Alvarez has scored nine of the 34 scored at the other end.

The two teams have already faced off this season, but Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Atletico in October in the league stage feels a long time ago. A four-goal burst in 15 second-half minutes, including two from Viktor Gyokeres, showed a freedom that Mikel Arteta’s team has found hard to recapture in a tense second half of the season.

Arsenal have endured a rocky patch recently – losing to Man City in the League Cup final, and in a key league game – but maintain a three-point lead at the top of the table, although City have a game in hand.

The hosts, meanwhile, are fourth in La Liga, and the Champions League represents their last hope of silverware this season after defeat in last weekend’s Copa del Rey final.

Atletico’s path to the semifinals has been taking first-leg leads – ambushing Tottenham at home then winning at Barcelona – before riding out severe pressure in the return game. That will be in London on Tuesday next week.

The winners will face either Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain in the final in Budapest on May 30.

What have the managers said?

Atleti coach Diego Simeone said, “We’re heading into the semifinals with all our enthusiasm and all our faith. We know our strengths and our weaknesses. We have great confidence in what we do. We’re ready, and we’re going to go after what we’ve been chasing for many years.”

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said, “It’s a massive moment [to reach consecutive semi-finals]. It’s the first time in our history, in 140 years – to be part of those four teams is something very special. You have to earn it. You have to go through a lot of work.”

What have the players said?

Atleti forward Antoine Griezmann said, “It doesn’t matter who we face as long as we’re still in it. It’s been a great and tough tie [against Barcelona] against a fantastic team that plays very well. It was a struggle, but we’re still in it.”

Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli noted, “We believe in ourselves, we know the quality we have. We won against them in the league phase, but it’s going to be a completely different game.”

How did Atletico reach the semifinals?

Atletico Madrid sent 10-man Barcelona crashing out of the Champions League and reached the final four with a 3-2 aggregate victory, despite a 2-1 quarterfinal second-leg defeat.

Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres fired visitors Barca ahead inside 24 minutes, but Ademola Lookman’s strike gave Atletico the edge in the gripping all-Spanish tie after their 2-0 win in the first leg.

How did Arsenal reach the semifinals?

Arsenal reached the Champions League semifinals after riding their luck in a nervous goalless draw against Sporting Lisbon that clinched a 1-0 aggregate victory.

Mikel Arteta’s team were well below their best in the quarterfinal second leg at the Emirates Stadium, but they held onto their slender first-leg advantage as Sporting failed to make them pay.

Head-to-head

The two clubs have only faced each other on three occasions, with each winning one game and one match ending as a draw.

Before meeting this season, the previews encounter ended up being the last European tie for former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

• October 21, 2025: Arsenal 4-0 Atletico Madrid (Champions League, league stage)
• May 03, 2018: Atletico Madrid 1-0 Arsenal (Europa League semifinal)
• April 26, 2018: Arsenal 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Europa League semifinal)

What happened when they last played each other?

Arsenal thrashed Atletico Madrid 4-0 back in October thanks to a devastating second-half broadside at the Emirates Stadium in a Champions League league-stage clash.

What had been a compelling clash with little between the sides in the first half became an Arsenal rout, with goals by Gabriel, Martinelli and a brace from Gyokeres leaving Simeone’s side shell-shocked.

Have either side ever won the European Cup/Champions League?

Neither side have ever been European champions.

Atletico reached the final in 2014 and 2016, and were beaten on both occasions by archrivals Real Madrid.

Arsenal reached the final in 2006, but were beaten 2-1 by Barcelona.

Atletico’s team news

Midfielder Pablo Barrios is set to miss the game and will be out for about a month after sustaining a thigh injury against Bilbao.

Lookman was not named in the squad for the weekend game after picking up a knock in the Copa del Rey final defeat by Real Sociedad, but may return for the Arsenal game.

Defender David Hancko is also expected to remain unavailable due to an injury.

Predicted starting XI:

Oblak (goalkeeper); Molina, Le Normand, Lenglet, Ruggeri; Simeone, Koke, Cardoso, Gonzalez; Griezmann, Alvarez

Arsenal’s team news

Kai Havertz and Eberechi Eze were both forced off with muscles issues in the win over Newcastle – Eze subsequently said he came off as a precaution and is “fine”, but Havertz is a doubt.

Midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who was taken off at half-time against Newcastle, will also face a late assessment.

Riccardo Calafiori is still recovering from a knock and is a major doubt, while Jurrien Timber has been out with a groin issue for about a month and is likely still some way from making a full recovery.

Mikel Merino is definitely unavailable as he recovers from surgery on an ankle injury.

Predicted starting XI:

Raya (goalkeeper); White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli

3. Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid)

Atletico Madrid’s trip to Arsenal in the league phase feels a long time ago, but it will stick in their mind not just for the four goals they shipped, but for their struggles in attack.

Atletico produced only 0.32 xG from open play in that defeat and managed only one shot on target, so, if they are to take anything against Arsenal this time around, getting Julian Alvarez in the game will be key.

The Argentina forward has scored nine goals in the competition this season, more than any Atletico player had managed in a Champions League campaign.

He’s also a menace defending from the front, with a mammoth 853 high-intensity pressures – more than anyone else this season. That’s 70 per game on average.

That work ethic, ruthlessness in front of goal and the wizardry to bend a free-kick into the top corner, as Barcelona found out, make the 26-year-old vital to Atletico’s chances of progressing.

Before all that though, there needs to be a decision about Carrick.

Many feel delivering a return to the Champions League – it was predicted after his first two games against Manchester City and Chelsea that his side would be in the bottom half of the table – should be enough to secure him a full-time contract.

Getting rid of Carrick, the argument goes, would be the most risky option.

But there are two schools of thought.

The first is that Carrick gets the job because he deserves the chance, it goes wrong next season and the United hierarchy are derided for following the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer model – even though that downplays the Norwegian’s achievement of delivering successive top-four finishes, something no coach has done since Sir Alex Ferguson quit in 2013.

The other is that Carrick is replaced by a more experienced manager, who struggles to adapt and then the hierarchy are accused of trying to fix something that wasn’t broken.

This decision is not made easier by the knowledge that Paris St-Germain are confident the standout candidate, Luis Enrique, will sign a new deal with them, and even if he does not, will want wages among the highest in the world to change clubs.

The practicalities of trying to bring in someone like Julian Nagelsman – whose contract with Germany does not expire until 2028 and could be involved in the World Cup final a day after Manchester United’s first pre-season game against Wrexham in Helsinki – make it an unviable option.

Andoni Iraola is well liked but, as Thomas Frank, who spoke to United in 2024, discovered at Tottenham, managing a progressive, smaller Premier League club is a whole different world to dealing with the biggest.

No-one knew what results Carrick would deliver when he was asked to take over until the end of the season. However, one thing United’s powerbrokers were certain about was that he would not be swamped by the sheer scale of what he was taking on.

Carrick met Sir Jim Ratcliffe for a cup of tea and a casual chat last week. Time will tell how important that brew was.

Barring an unimaginable sequence of results, Old Trafford will host Champions League football again next season.

But one senses for those running the club, their most significant work is about to begin.

It took a first home defeat to Leeds since 1981 for the real moans to start.

The calmness previously viewed as an asset became a negative. Inaction was seen as conservative. All week the question has been asked, is Carrick up to the job?

Well, there was nothing aesthetically pleasing about this latest triumph.

But given only Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of all the post-Sir Alex Ferguson bosses had experienced the feeling of winning at Stamford Bridge, style was a secondary element.

Chelsea may have hit the woodwork three times. They may have carried the more consistent threat. But Carrick’s team was the one that delivered.

“It was a game for a result,” he said. “And we managed to find it.”

There was more to it though. There was overcoming the adversity of knowing that on top of the three central defenders he knew would be missing (Matthijs de Ligt through injury and Lisandro Martinez and Harry Maguire due to suspension), Carrick then lost a fourth, Leny Yoro, to a training ground injury.

That came so late in the week his chosen pairing, Noussair Mazraoui and Ayden Heaven, could only prepare with walk-throughs.

“I love when you see players thrive in those moments,” said Carrick.

Heaven, 19, had not started a game under Carrick, having first been given his chance by Ruben Amorim and then his immediate replacement Darren Fletcher.

“Ayden has not played a lot of football recently, and to come into that environment is not something that you can take for granted,” said Carrick.

“We say the same things to young players all the time. Sometimes they look at you as if to say, ‘yeah, good one’ but in terms of training every day and looking after yourself and being ready ‘because you never know when that chance comes’, he probably wouldn’t have thought it would come at that moment.

“But he was there, he was prepared, and he took it in his stride magnificently well.”

Manchester United strengthen grip on third spot in Premier League with 1-0 win that leaves Chelsea relying on favours.

Manchester United took a giant step towards ending a two-year exile from the Champions League as Matheus Cunha scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against Chelsea.

United’s victory on Saturday opens up a 10-point gap between the Red Devils in third place and sixth-placed Chelsea, with only 15 points left to play for this season.

The top five in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League next season.

But a fourth consecutive league defeat leaves Chelsea’s chances of being back among Europe’s elite next season in tatters. It also piles pressure on manager Liam Rosenior, only three months into his reign.

Chelsea once again bemoaned the lack of a clinical striker as they failed to break down a makeshift United defence ravaged by injury and suspension.

United manager Michael Carrick was forced to name a backline featuring three full-backs and 19-year-old Ayden Heaven. But they held out to boost the former England midfielder’s case to get the job at Old Trafford beyond the end of this season.

Chelsea were missing their top scorer, Joao Pedro, through injury, and one-time United target Liam Delap failed to take his chance to shine up front.

Rosenior recalled Enzo Fernandez after the Argentinian was given a two-game suspension by the Blues for suggesting he would be open to a summer move to Real Madrid.

Fernandez started with a point to prove and came agonisingly close to the opener when he curled inches wide.

United looked rusty in a 2-1 defeat to Leeds on Monday, their first action for three and a half weeks.

But Carrick’s men repaired the damage done to their chances of returning to the Champions League next season.

Cunha provided a precise finish to open the scoring two minutes before the break from Bruno Fernandes’s 18th Premier League assist of the season.

Chelsea improved after the break but failed to prevent another damaging defeat, leaving Rosenior’s role in doubt heading into next season.

Delap crashed a header against the woodwork, and Noussair Mazraoui turned a dangerous cross onto his own bar, under pressure from Wesley Fofana.

Moises Caicedo, fresh from signing a new seven-year contract, also came close to rescuing a point for the hosts.

But the final whistle was met by a chorus of boos at full-time, with the Club World Cup winners looking resigned to Europa League football at best next term.

Toulouse: Ashall-Bott; Pons, Polselli, Rennie, Ulberg; Rouge, Lacans; Belmas, Hands, Butler, Jussaume, Stefani, Marion.

Interchanges: Rodriguez, Chan, Roumanos, Wallace.

Hull KR: Broadbent; Davies, Hiku, Gildart, Burgess; Lewis, May; Sue, Litten, Amone, Hadley, Batchelor, Minchella.

Interchanges: Whitbread, Martin, Dezaria, Leyland.

Referee: Aaron Moore.

European football’s governing body has already rejected one appeal by Barca about their quarterfinals against Atletico.

Barcelona have lodged another complaint with UEFA, after their protest about a handball incident in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal defeat to Atletico Madrid was rejected this week.

The Spanish club said in a statement on Thursday that several refereeing decisions across both legs of the tie, which Atletico won 3-2 on aggregate, “did not comply with the Laws of the Game, resulting from an incorrect application of the regulations and a lack of appropriate intervention by the VAR system in incidents of clear significance”.

The Catalan club, which finished both matches with 10 men after the dismissals of Pau Cubarsi and then Eric Garcia, believe they were on the wrong end of several contentious decisions, including two potential penalty situations that did not trigger VAR intervention.

“The accumulation of these errors had a direct impact on the course of the matches and on the final outcome of the tie, causing significant sporting and financial harm to the club,” the reigning Spanish champions added.

Barcelona said the club “reiterates the requests previously made to UEFA” and offer to “collaborate with the organisation with the aim of improving the refereeing system to ensure a more rigorous, fair and transparent application” of the regulations.

On Tuesday, UEFA had rejected as “inadmissible” the five-time Champions League winners’ initial complaint regarding a handball on a goal kick by Atletico defender Marc Pubill in the first leg, which his side won 2-0.

Champions League analysts Stephen Warnock, Nedum Onouha and Julien Laurens look at why the semi-finals between PSG & Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid & Arsenal are both really hard to call who will win.

MATCH REPORT: Champions League – Arsenal 0-0 Sporting (1-0 agg)

It was always going to be difficult for the second period to match the high-octane tempo of the first, and instead the decisive moments, both mad and magnificent, were compacted into the final few minutes.

With extra time looming, substitute Camavinga was dismissed for two yellow cards within 24 minutes of coming on. The first was for a foul on Jamal Musiala in the 78th minute and the second for taking the ball and delaying a Bayern free-kick following a foul on Kane.

The red card was to prove costly for him, and his team as the hosts made the most of their advantage.

Luis Diaz struck in the 89th minute to make it 5-4 to Bayern on aggregate, before Michael Olise put the icing on the cake in stoppage time.

With Guler also sent off in the aftermath, Real boss Alvaro Arbeloa admitted: “With the red card everything was over.

“It’s unbelievable to send off a player for this action. It’s not possible in a player like that, match like that. We feel all of this is a bit unfair.”

For Bayern, a semi-final against holders Paris St-Germain will follow and boss Kompany said: “The boys were mentally strong to recover from setbacks.

“The fans helped us as well. We stayed calm and always felt that our moment would come. The boys deserved this win.

“We showed absolute belief and will to fight our way back into the game.”

Gerrard, a 2005 Champions League winner with Liverpool, described it as “an incredible game of football, end-to-end, fascinating tactical approaches”.

“Extra time was looking likely, but one moment of madness, indiscipline and silliness has cost Real the chance of getting to the last four,” he added.

Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock told Match of the Day: “Both teams were brilliant going forward, but defensively both have been poor.

“If you want to win the Champions League, can you play like that? It is going to be fascinating to see how that pans out when Bayern face Paris St-Germain.”

Arsenal play out an unconvincing goalless draw at home with Sporting to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions League, where they will meet Atletico Madrid.

MATCH REPORT: Champions League – Arsenal 0-0 Sporting (1-0 agg)

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Follow the build-up and live text commentary of the game as Madrid look to come back from 2-1 first-leg defeat.

Less than a year on from the day Liverpool won the Premier League title, Arne Slot’s side find themselves in a position where their season rests on qualifying for the Champions League.

For Slot, perhaps his future does too. There will be no silverware and the Dutchman has already said failing to have Champions League football next season would mean this would “definitely not be an acceptable season”.

This was Liverpool’s 17th defeat of the campaign but it came after arguably one of their better performances. Until Ousmane Dembele’s 72nd-minute strike for Paris St-Germain, Liverpool battled admirably against the champions of Europe.

“It was an intense match between two teams who played really good football,” said PSG head coach Luis Enrique.

For Liverpool, there is no shame in getting knocked out by this PSG side. Luis Enrique’s side are a joy to watch and play with confidence when in possession.

But the worry for Liverpool is they have gone backwards.

When these two sides met in the Champions League last 16 last season, PSG were the better side across the two legs but they needed a penalty shootout to knock Liverpool out.

This time around, they outclassed Slot’s side in Paris and, while there were spells on Tuesday night when Liverpool threatened, the final scoreline of 4-0 across two legs was fair.

“Of course we are very disappointed because I think there were parts of the second half where you could feel ‘if we could just score now, this could become a very special night’,” said Slot.

“But the future looks very bright for this team, for this club. We have showed we can compete with the champions of Europe in our stadium. To be the dominant team, not many teams can be dominant against PSG and create as many chances as we did,” he added.

At Anfield, Liverpool’s xG was 1.94 compared with the 0.18 at the Parc des Princes last week.

So there were positives to take, but there is still plenty to be done before they can be considered serious contenders on the European stage again.

After the match, Mohamed Salah waved goodbye to the Anfield crowd after playing his last game for Liverpool in the Champions League.

Now the question is whether Slot and Liverpool will be back in the Champions League next season.