ANKARA
Away teams each defeated home teams in the first four matches of UEFA Champions League Round 16 played on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Catalan giants, Barcelona beat English Manchester City with a brace (2-0) in an away match on Tuesday. The Argentinian world class forward of Barcelona, Lionel Messi opened the deadlock in the second half of the match by scoring from a penalty kick. 33-year-old Argentinian defender of Manchester City, Martin Demichelis, who was sent off after making a sliding tackle against Lionel Messi in the box, made Catalan team's work easier for this match with Manchester City's team reduced to 10 for the remainder of the match. The 10-man Manchester City could not resist Barcelona's famous tiki-taka passing style resulting in the English side conceding a second goal from Barcelona. Brazilian right-back Dani Alves, who doubled the score in Manchester, clinched the victory for Barca.
French giants, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) were on easy street against German team Bayer Leverkusen at BayArena. PSG beat Leverkusen 4-0 in an away match. The Parisian team were off to a flying start with their French box-to-box midfielder Blaise Matuidi scoring an opening goal of the game in the third minute of play. The Swedish forward of PSG, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who scored two goals in total against Leverkusen, put a firm stamp on the match as he scored a remarkable goal outside of the penalty box. The fourth goal came from newly transferred French midfielder, Yohan Cabaye who scored on his debut in UEFA Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain.
On Wednesday night, two matches were played. London team Arsenal hosted the recent winners of UEFA Champions League Bayern Munich from Germany. 'Die Bayern' toppled Arsenal at Emirates Stadium. The thrilling match of Round 16 started with a penalty, Bayern Munich's defender Jerome Boateng brought down Arsenal's German-Turkish attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil in the box in the early minutes and the referee awarded Arsenal a penalty. Bayern Munich's goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer's penalty save was a critical point for the Germans. After saving Ozil's penalty, Bayern Munich increased the pressure on their opponents and gained a penalty in 40th minute of the match. Arsenal's Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off by the referee as he brought down Bayern Munich's Dutch winger Arjen Robben in the box. Like Mesut Ozil, Austrian left-back of Bayern Munich, David Alaba missed the penalty by hitting the crossbar. In second half, Bayern's German midfielder Toni Kroos' rocket broke the deadlock in London. After the opening goal of the match, Bayern Munich dictated the tempo against the 10-man Arsenal and they doubled the score with Thomas Muller who found the net in the 88th minute. The match in England ended as a German triumph.
Having endured difficulties in Italian Serie A this season, Italian team AC Milan was stunned at their home ground at San Siro Stadium by Atletico Madrid from Spain. Atletico's Brazilian forward Diego Costa's late header goal made the Spanish side return home victorious to Madrid. In Atletico Madrid, who grabbed a precious win in Milan, Turkish international Arda Turan played against the Italian team but he was subbed out in 74th minute of the match, to be replaced by Uruguayan midfielder Cristian Rodriguez.
The results of the four matches in Round 16 played on Tuesday and Wednesday are as follows:
Manchester City 0 - 2 Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen 0 - 4 Paris Saint-Germain
Arsenal 0 - 2 Bayern Munich
AC Milan 0 - 1 Atletico Madrid
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