SAMUEL Chukwueze came off the bench to score the goal that made the difference as Villarreal stunned Bayern Munich out of the UEFA Champions League last night.
The Super Eagles forward struck in the 88th minute, moments after replacing Arnaut Danjuma, to earn Villarreal a 1-1 draw in the Allianz Arena that took them through to the semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate.
After holding on in the face of incessant Bayern pressure in the first half, Villarreal finally conceded seven minutes after the restart.
Robert Lewandowski put Bayern ahead on the night to level the tie on aggregate after Villarreal’s 1-0 first-leg win.
Extra-time looked to be on the cards until Chukwueze struck from a swift counterattack with just two minutes of regulation time left.
The result means Bayern Munich have been eliminated from the Champions League in the quarter-finals for the second year running.
Villarreal, handled by former Arsenal manager Unai Emery, are into the semi-finals for the first time since 2006 and will play either Liverpool or Benfica in the last four. The English side take a 3-1 lead into Wednesday’s second leg at Anfield.
In the other Champions League quarter-final second leg on the night, Chelsea beat Real Madrid 3-2 in Madrid but it was the Spaniards who advanced.
Having won the first leg 3-1 in London last Wednesday, Real Madrid have progressed to the semi-finals 5-4 on aggregate.
Chelsea looked to be cruising to a second consecutive semi-final until Real Madrid struck late to take the game to extra-time.
Mason Mount, Antonio Rudiger and Timo Werner gave the dominant English side a 3-0 lead on the night and a 4-3 aggregate advantage as the match neared its conclusion.
But substitute Rodrygo scored in the 80th minute off a sublime Luka Modric assist to level the tie 4-4 on aggregate and take into extra-time.
Karim Benzema, who had been largely anonymous, then headed Real Madrid ahead in the tie in the first half of extra-time. It was the Frenchman’s fourth goal of the tie after his hat-trick in the first leg, and Chelsea could not find their way back this time.
Real Madrid will face either Manchester City or Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals. City won a tight first leg 1-0 in Manchester last Tuesday.
