Bayern defeats Lazio to reach Champions League quarterfinal

Bayern Munich bounced back from a distressing defeat in Rome to advance past Lazio in the UEFA Champions League. A Harry Kane brace surrounded a goal from the always-reliable Thomas Muller to put Bayern Munich into the quarterfinals. It is Bayern’s fifth straight season reaching the last eight of the top European competition. The victory ended a skid of one win in the club’s last five games in all competitions. With Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern collapsing in the league, the Champions League remains the side’s last chance for a trophy.

After the first leg of the round of 16, that prospect looked bleak. Lazio entered Tuesday night’s game with a lead after scoring a second-half penalty to defeat Bayern Munich. In that game, an uninspired Bayern Munich failed to register a shot on target.

In the return leg, Bayern Munich turned the tie around in the first half with a pair of goals. Harry Kane opened the scoring on Tuesday. In the 38th minute, Harry Kane was in the right place at the right time in the Lazio penalty box. Despite Raphael Guerreiro failing to make the most of his chance, the ball bounced directly to Kane, who nodded the ball into the back of the net.

Seven minutes later, Thomas Muller was in a good position to put Bayern ahead in the tie. A shot attempt from Matthijs de Ligt was going toward the far post. Muller was the first to react to deflect the ball into the net, leaving Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel helpless.

Kane puts the game to bed, Bayern in another Champions League quarterfinal

With Bayern Munich looking to close the tie, Harry Kane iced the fixture with Bayern’s third in the 66th minute. In true striker fashion, the Englishman’s positioning led to the goal. Leroy Sane forced a fine save out of Provedel with a left-footed shot. Provedel could only deflect the ball into Kane’s path, and the English striker tucked the ball home.

The game petered out for the final 25 minutes with Bayern leading by three goals on the night. Just like Bayern in the first leg, Lazio failed to muster a shot on target, and the Italian club ended up losing the tie by two goals on aggregate.

Mbappe also scores a brace to send PSG through

In the other fixture on Tuesday, PSG won at Real Sociedad, 2-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. After winning the first leg in Paris, 2-0, Luis Enrique’s side simply had to see out the game. Yet, Kylian Mbappe turned in another dominant performance to score a brace. The first goal came after a brilliant bit of solo play. After creating space, the French forward fired a shot from a tight angle into the far corner of the net to give PSG an early lead on the night. In the second half, Mbappe’s speed created another opportunity. This time, his shot went to the near post, as Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro already committed to the far post.

Real Sociedad scored a consolation goal, much to the applause of the home fans who were seeing a rare knockout game in the UEFA Champions League. Yet, that was not enough, as PSG advanced on aggregate, 4-1.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.