Bayern hold Sevilla, Real edge past Juventus

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Newly crowned German champions Bayern Munich held Sevilla to a goalless draw in the return leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal to book a berth for the semifinal with a 2-1 aggregate win.

Bayern pulled off a gritty defensive performance to see off their opposition challenge, holding on to their first leg lead until the final whistle was blown at Allianz Arena.

The Bundesliga champions started the game as favorites in front of a partisan home crowd in Munich, but inspired by Tuesday night’s double upset (by Roma and Liverpool) in the other two quarterfinals, a spirited Sevilla were leaving no stone unturned to cause yet another upset in the blue riband event of European club football.

Arjen Robben of Bayern Munich is fouled by Nolito (C) and Ever Banega of Sevilla during the UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg match in Munich. /VCG Photo

However, Sevilla defender Joaquin Correa, who received the marching order in stoppage time, struck the bar with a header and midfielder Pablo Sarabia, who scored in the first leg, let a golden opportunity go in the first-half.

Bayern had their share of misfortune as well as their top-scorer Robert Lewandowski had a header thwarted by goalkeeper David Soria.

With both the teams failing to break the deadlock, the match ended in a draw that saw the German giants through to the semifinals even though they failed to score for the first time in 22 Champions League home matches.

Ronaldo clinches dramatic last-gasp win for Real

Talismanic Cristiano Ronaldo once again turned the savior for Real Madrid as the Portuguese icon’s injury-time penalty guided the defending champions through to the Champions League semi-finals against a resurgent Juventus despite losing 1-3.

Cristiano Ronaldo (L) of Real Madrid, Jesus Vallejo (R) of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League quarter final match against Juventus FC at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain. /VCG Photo

Despite languishing at fourth place in the La Liga table and 15 points behind runaway leaders Barcelona, Real came into the second leg at Santiago Bernabeu with an emphatic 3-0 lead.

But Juventus looked quite determined to follow in the footsteps of their Serie A rivals Roma and their stunning upset of another Spanish giant Barcelona in the previous night.

The Serie A leaders got off to a perfect start when Mario Mandzukic drew the first blood with a header from a Sami Khedira's cross just two minutes after the kickoff and went on to double the lead just before halftime.

Juventus' Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic (L) scores a goal during the UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg football match against Real Madrid. /VCG Photo

Real, Champions League winners in three of the past four seasons, were jolted when Blaise Matuidi exploited a Keylor Navas howler to make it 3-0 and thus equalized the tie 3-3 on aggregate.

As the match went down to the wire with both the sides pressing for the decisive winning goal, there was a dramatic turnaround in the home side’s favor as Medhi Benatia brought down Lucas Vazquez in the box in stoppage time.

English referee Michael Oliver’s decision to award a spot-kick saw Juventus and Italy’s legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, playing his final Champions League tournament, being sent off for his abusive protest against it.

An ice cool Ronaldo came to Real’s rescue again by scoring the all-important tie-winning 97th-minute penalty to keep the Meringues’ hopes of winning their first trophy of an otherwise, lackluster season, alive.

Real joined Liverpool, Roma and Bayern Munich in the last-four draw, which takes place in Nyon on Friday.