2024/25 UEFA European Football Roundup: Semi-Finals, Leg 2

UEFA Champions League:

Inter Milan 4-3 Barcelona (7-6 on Aggregate)

After 13 goals, it was Inter Milan who managed to edge out FC Barcelona in an all-time classic! After 21 minutes, it was Inter Milan who had the lead as Lautaro Martinez tapped the ball into the empty net! Right before Halftime, and Inter Milan were awarded a penalty which Hakan Calhanoglu stepped up and scored! In the 54th minute, Barcelona had one back through Eric Garcia (this was a great finish) before Yann Sommer pulled out an amazing stop to deny Garcia a second! In the 60th minute, it was 2-2 as Dani Olmo headed home well before Raphinha thought he’d won it for Barcelona in the 87th minute! However, in the 93rd minute, Inter were able to send the game into Extra Time courtesy of Francesco Acerbi before Lamine Yamal missed a golden chance to win it for Barca! And then, in the 99th minute, Davide Frattesi scored the goal that booked Inter’s ticket to the Final! Overall, what a crazy win for Inter Milan! Inter will give it their best to try and win Serie A before they take on their second Champions League Final in 3 seasons! As for FC Barcelona, this will hurt them for a while! It’s not all doom and gloom for Barca though as they’re closing in on another LaLiga Title!

PSG 2-1 Arsenal (3-1 on Aggregate)

Paris Saint-Germain followed up their First Leg victory with another one over Arsenal to book their tickets to Munich! Declan Rice had a golden chance to give Arsenal the lead early on which he headed off target before Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled out a terrific stop to deny Gabriel Martinelli! Donnarumma then pulled out another great save, this time to keep Martin Odegaard’s effort out before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia struck the post! After 27 minutes, we finally had the first goal of the game as Fabian Ruiz fired home a great volleyed effort! In the Second Half, Gianluigi Donnarumma pulled out a really good stop to keep Bukayo Saka’s effort out before PSG were awarded a penalty after the ball struck the arm of Myles Lewis-Skelly! Vitinha then stepped up and saw his penalty saved by David Raya, but just 3 minutes later, and PSG had their winner through Achraf Hakimi! In the 76th minute, Arsenal had one back through Bukayo Saka before Saka missed an open goal just a couple of minutes later! Overall, Paris Saint-Germain deserved to go through here so congratulations to them! PSG are already Ligue 1 Champions, but they can still win the French Cup before the Champions League Final! As for Arsenal, they didn’t take their chances! The Gunners will now look to guarantee their place inside the Top 5 to return back to the Champions League again next season!

UEFA Europa League:

Manchester United 4-1 Athletic Bilbao (7-1 on Aggregate)

Manchester United pulled out another storming display to dispatch Athletic Bilbao on their way to the Europa League Final! Alex Berenguer had a decent chance early on which he failed to keep down before Athletic Bilbao took the lead in the 31st minute thanks to a terrific goal by Mikel Jauregizar! Alejandro Garnacho then had a great opportunity to equalise which he failed to hit the target with before Mason Mount finally equalised in the 72nd minute! In the 80th minute, it was 2-1 to Manchester United as Casemiro headed home well before Rasmus Hojlund made it 3-1 just 5 minutes later! And then, to cap things off in the 91st minute, Mason Mount scored from about 40 yards out! Overall, this was a great night for Manchester United! United will face West Ham and Chelsea before the Final in 12 days! As for Athletic Bilbao, they completely collapsed here! Bilbao’s mission is now to finish in the Top 4 in LaLiga in order to play Champions League Football next season!

Bodo/Glimt 0-2 Tottenham (1-5 on Aggregate)

Tottenham Hotspur picked up a great win in Bodo/Glimt to secure an all-English Europa League Final! After Bodo/Glimt missed multiple chances to score, Tottenham were the ones who took the lead in the 63rd minute courtesy of Dominic Solanke! Just 6 minutes later, and Tottenham’s trip to Bilbao was confirmed as Pedro Porro’s attempted cross found its way into the back of the Bodo/Glimt net! In the end, Bodo/Glimt just weren’t good enough here! Bodo/Glimt now have a long way to go before their season ends! As for Tottenham Hotspur, congrats to them for getting the job done! Spurs will face Crystal Palace and Aston Villa before they meet Manchester United in Bilbao!

UEFA Conference League:

Fiorentina 2-2 Real Betis (3-4 on Aggregate)

An Extra Time goal was ultimately enough for Real Betis to edge past Fiorentina in the Conference League Semi-Finals! After 30 minutes, it was Real Betis who found themselves in front as Antony scored a cracking free kick! Just 4 minutes later, though, and Fiorentina were back on level terms through Robin Gosens! Johnny Cardoso then saw his effort fire back off the crossbar before Fiorentina were in front on the night thanks to another headed goal from Gosens! David De Gea then pulled out an important double stop to send the game into Extra Time before, in the 97th minute, Real Betis had their winning goal (overall) as Abdessamad Ezzalzouli finished off a great Betis attack! In the end, it’s another year where Fiorentina are going to miss out on Conference League glory! Fiorentina now need a strong end to the season if they hope to have any sort of European involvement next season! As for Real Betis, they’re heading to their first-ever European Final! Betis still have their sights set on qualifying for the Champions League before this Final though!

Chelsea 1-0 Djurgarden (5-1 on Aggregate)

Chelsea cruised through Djurgarden to book their place in this year’s UEFA Conference League Final! After a couple of chances were missed, Chelsea finally had the lead in the 38th minute through Kieran Dewsbury-Hall! In the Second Half, Filip Jorgensen pulled out a pretty good save to keep Djurgarden off the scoresheet, and that was about all she wrote! Overall, this was pretty straightforward for Chelsea! The Blues will now look to secure Champions League Football in the league before they try and win some silverware! As for Djurgarden, their incredible European run has finally come to a close! Djurgarden will now look to turn their league season around!