Chelsea and Benfica advance to the quarter-finals

Kai Havertz fired Chelsea into the Champions League quarterfinals to ease the pressure on manager Graham Potter. The Germany international’s twice-taken penalty secured a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, March 7.

Chelsea advanced 2-1 on aggregate after having trailed 1-0 from the round-of-16 first leg in Dortmund last month. Raheem Sterling lashed the 2021 European champions ahead on the night in the 43rd minute after collecting a cross from Ben Chilwell.

Havertz had already hit the post in the first half and seen another effort ruled out for offside. And he thought he’d seen another chance go by when firing a second-half penalty against post after Marius Wolf handled in the box. But the spot kick was ordered to be retook when VAR spotted encroachment in the area.

Havertz, whose goal secured the Champions League for Chelsea in a 1-0 win against Manchester City two years ago, stepped up again and coolly slotted home at the second time of asking in the 53rd.

7-1

Benfica continued its good run with a comfortable 5-1 win over Club Brugge on Tuesday to seal its spot in the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the second straight season. The Portuguese team advanced 7-1 on aggregate following its 2-0 win in the first leg in Belgium.

Rafa Silva, João Mário and David Neres scored a goal each, and Gonçalo Ramos found the net twice for Benfica, which hadn’t made it to the last eight in consecutive seasons in more than five decades. It was eliminated by eventual runner-up Liverpool last year.

Brugge, making its debut in the knockout stage of the Champions League, plunged deeper into crisis under coach Scott Parker. The team has won only twice in 12 matches since the English manager took over in December.

The Belgian champions were one of the surprises of the group stage, finishing second to Porto and ahead of Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid.

Benfica, twice a European champion in the early 1960s, had last made it to the last eight in consecutive seasons in 1968 and 1969. It last advanced past the quarterfinals in 1990, when it eventually lost the final to AC Milan.