MADRID, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Paris Saint-Germain, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan all secured their places in the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
Paris Saint-Germain triumphed in a dramatic penalty shootout at Anfield, knocking Liverpool out of the competition after a 1-0 victory on the night. Gianluigi Donnarumma made two crucial saves, denying Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones, while PSG converted all of their penalties following an intense 120 minutes of play.
Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring for PSG just 12 minutes in, scrambling the ball home after excellent work from Bradley Barcola.
The game was played at an incredibly high pace, with Barcola close to a second goal only to be denied by Alisson Becker in the Liverpool goal. Alisson also had to be at his best to come off his line and deny Dembele a second goal after the PSG winger's touch was just too long.
At the other end, Liverpool looked to create chances but were often let down by a poor final ball, with Mohamed Salah slightly out of sync with his teammates.
After the break, Liverpool turned up the intensity, dominating the second half, but Donnarumma made several key saves to deny their efforts. Jarell Quansah nearly equalized in the 79th minute with a header that struck the post following an Andy Robertson free kick. Despite Liverpool's dominance, similar to PSG's recent struggles, they failed to convert their chances into goals.
Liverpool had the better of the first period of extra time but failed to force a save from Donnarumma, while PSG were stronger in the last 15 minutes, with Alisson producing a fine save to deny Dembele.
FC Barcelona was the first team to book a place in the quarterfinals with a 3-1 win at home to Benfica (4-1 on aggregate), with all the goals coming in the first half.
After an emotional minute of silence for club doctor Carles Minarro, who died suddenly on Saturday, Barca started strongly.
Alejandro Balde saw a shot saved before Raphinha opened the scoring in the ninth minute after a pass from Lamine Yamal, who clipped the ball to him with his left foot.
Nicolas Otamendi powered home a header almost immediately afterward from a corner to level the score on the night, but a moment of magic from Yamal, who cut inside before scoring with a left-footed shot, made it 2-1 in the 27th minute.
Robert Lewandowski missed a good chance to make it 3-1 in the 40th minute, but it didn't matter when Raphinha netted his second of the game and his 11th goal of the tournament after magnificent work from Alejandro Balde, who ran half the length of the pitch before setting up the Brazilian.
The second half saw Barca control the game effectively, dropping slightly deeper but still frustrating a brave Benfica side with their offside trap.
Inter Milan secured their progression with a 2-1 home victory over Feyenoord, adding to their 2-0 win in the first leg for a 4-1 aggregate score.
Marcus Thuram opened the scoring just eight minutes in, giving Inter a 3-0 aggregate lead. Although Jakub Moder equalized for Feyenoord in the 42nd minute, Hakan Calhanoglu restored Inter's advantage by scoring a penalty, sealing the win.
Bayern Munich also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory away to Bayer Leverkusen, completing a comfortable 5-0 aggregate triumph, with Harry Kane and Alphonso Davies contributing the goals. ■
