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Bayern Munich and Liverpool are the first teams through to the Champions League quarter-finals after contrasting results at home against Salzburg and Inter Milan respectively.
Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski grabbed the earliest hat-trick in Champions League history with three goals by the 23rd minute as the German giants steamrollered Salzburg 7-1 to round out their round of 16 tie 8-2 on aggregate.
The 33-year-old Poland international opened his account with two almost identical penalties in the 12th minute and 21st before netting on the break two minutes later for his fifth hat-trick in the competition.
The contest was all but over by the half-hour mark when Serge Gnabry beat goalkeeper Philipp Kohn with a low shot to make it 4-0.
The Austrian visitors had not conceded more than two goals in a competitive match this season before Tuesday but worse was to come when Thomas Muller turned beautifully in the box to drill in the hosts’ fifth goal nine minutes after the restart.
Salzburg teenager Maurits Kjaergaard got some brief consolation for the visitors in the 70th with his first European goal but Mueller bagged his second of the evening 13 minutes later before Leroy Sane completed the rout in the 86th.
Bayern have now scored seven or more goals in a Champions League game for a record seventh time.
Liverpool suffered their first Anfield defeat in a year, going down 1-0 to Inter, but still progressed to courtesy of their 2-0 first-leg advantage.
After a cagey first half, a superb drive into the top corner from Lautaro Martinez in the 62nd minute put Inter ahead on the night.
But just as an Inter surprise looked possible, the visitors found themselves down a man when Alexis Sanchez was dismissed for a second yellow card after catching Liverpool midfielder Fabinho.
The Reds could have put the tie to bed before the interval as Joel Matip headed against the crossbar and Virgil van Dijk had an effort deflected wide.
In the second-half Mohamed Salah had two efforts come off the post as the hosts held firm to reach the last eight of the Champions League for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Meanwhile, Four years after Russia hosted the World Cup, and reached the quarter-finals, the sport faces being isolated within the world game.
UEFA stripped St Peterburg of the Champions League final and banned club teams from European competition. World governing body FIFA suspended the national team and has given green light for foreign players to unilaterally suspend their contracts from Thursday onwards.
The Russian soccer federation appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Tuesday to have its FIFA and UEFA bans frozen and other punishments overturned.
CAS said it hoped to decide on the appeals in the coming days.
Should the appeal fail Russia will be cut off from the soccer world. It is an extraordinary turnaround that is expected to hit its sport’s community hard, even though the domestic leagues are continuing.
© AAP
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