Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid (Agg. 4-2)

Even knowing they were going into this game down by two due to the away goals rule, Madrid's Rafael Varane began the game by time-wasting, keeping the ball in his own box and passing it back and forth with keeper Thibault Courtois. It's a tactic that works in the dying moments of a game, not the beginning of a second leg. Jesus pressured him, stole the ball and passed it over to Raheem Sterling who slotted it in to make it 1-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate only nine minutes in.

The Spanish side played well in the first leg only to find themselves outplayed at the end. Here, they were playing badly from the start. They looked like a side who had already won their own domestic league weeks ago and felt that was enough. It wasn't until Karim Benzema made it 1-1 that it looked as if they were taking it seriously, and even then, it appeared only to be on an individual level. His last-minute dash to get on the end of a Rodrygo cross felt more like a singular endeavor than anything in manager Zinedine Zidane's playbook.

Real came to life in the second half and took most of the possession, but City – especially Sterling and de Bruyne – looked the most threatening. This duel persisted and as time dragged on, it became increasingly clear that the next goal would make or break the game for either side.

In the 69th minute, another mistake from Varane made it for City. Seemingly obsessed with passing the ball back to the keeper, he headed it to Courtois without enough power and again got poached by Jesus; this time he claimed the goal for himself and put his team into the quarterfinals.

Juventus 2-1 Lyon (Agg. 2-2)

Every year, a scrappy underdog gets into the latter stages of the Champions League. This season, it's Ligue 1's Lyon who finished their curtailed domestic campaign in a lowly seventh place yet have proven in Europe that a special team is more important than a special player.

The game began intensely and in the tenth minute, Rodrigo Bentancur got too involved and slid in on Houssem Aouar in the box and gave away an easy penalty to Lyon, which was converted with equal ease by Memphis Depay.

The Old Lady acted almost as if they weren't now 2-0 down on aggregate and kicked on straight away, but Lyon gave them no quarter. European football really does bring out the best in teams of all sizes. It's incredible to see the two sides so equally matched knowing that Juventus are the champions of Italian football and have played 14 games since their last Champions League game and Lyon floundered in France and have played only once in that same time frame.

On the cusp of half-time, Juventus got a penalty from a Depay handball and, who else would take it, but Cristiano Ronaldo, who sent it into the bottom right corner. It went into the break 1-1 and Juventus started the other side as if half-time didn't take place. They had momentum and looked to be moving into the ascendancy.

Right on the hour mark, Ronaldo got a brace with a gorgeous goal from just outside the Lyon box. It flew like a laser directly into the top of the net.

In the 72nd minute, Paulo Dybala finally comes on for Juventus having been initially sidelined due to an injury. He immediately makes an impact in midfield and it looks like things are going The Old Lady's way. All service heads in Ronaldo's direction. Sadly, only 12 minutes later, Dybala was off again, clutching his left thigh, an injury to which kept him out of Juventus' starting squad for the last two games.

This buckled the confidence of everyone at Juve besides Ronaldo who kept searching for a hat-trick. He couldn't find one. Lyon pushed the pace right to the final whistle and one man, no matter how special, simply couldn't undo their hard work.