Nightmare For Two English Teams Man City And Arsenal As They Are Both KNOCKED-OUT Of The UCL By Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. {Reactions}

 It was another nightmare for two English teams Man City and Arsenal on Wednesday night, as both teams saw their Champions League journey come to an end in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively.

For the first time in Champions League history, multiple English sides have been eliminated from the knockout stages on the same day.

Despite dominating most possession in the game, last season champions Man City have been knocked out of the Champions League by 14-time champions Real Madrid via penalty shootout.

With both teams inseparable following a 3-3 draw in last week’s pulsating first leg tie, it was all to play for in the second leg at the Etihad stadium.

And it was the Spanish La Liga giants Madrid that struck first at the Etihad as Rodrygo put them ahead inside 12 minutes, slotting home at the second attempt after goalkeeper Ederson saved his initial effort.

City looked to respond with Erling Haaland’s header hitting the crossbar, and Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin making strong saves to deny fierce efforts from Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish.

After the break, City intensified their pressure, testing Real's defence multiple times. Lunin made crucial saves to deny Grealish and Foden, frustrating City's attempts to find the net, but Real's game management tactics slowed down the pace of the game, frustrating the home crowd.

Finally the hosts restored parity after about an hour of toiling to get back into the game, City  broke their visitors’ stubborn resistance 14 minutes from time when Antonio Rudiger cleared Jeremy Doku’s cross straight to De Bruyne, who calmly lifted the ball into the roof of the net.

However, the Belgian missed a golden opportunity to secure victory in normal time, firing over from close range, as Man City strived for a winner, but Real's backline remained unbreakable.

Pep Guardiola’s men continued to dominate proceedings, but they could not find that winning goal as the tie edged towards 30 minutes of extra time.

Carlo Ancelotti's side had a chance to snatch the win, but Rüdiger squandered the opportunity by firing over from a tight angle. With no goals in extra time, the match eventually went to penalties.

Although Ederson denied Luka Modric with Madrid’s first penalty kick to give City the early advantage, but Lunin was the hero on the night came up trumps and saved Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic spot-kicks thereby swinging the shoot-out back in favour of the visitors.

Real Madrid subsequently prevailed with Rudiger who has been magnificent in the heart of the visitors defence, successfully netted the decisive final kick, as the 14-time winners dethroned the reigning champions, setting up a last-four date with Bayern Munich.

Man City manager Pep Guardiola on Bernardo Silva taking a penalty: "He said he wanted to take one and he is a reliable player.

"But what a game he had."

Guardiola added: "I would have preferred to have won but congratulations to Real Madrid. We did everything so I have absolutely no regret about anything we have done.

"I always say as a manager, it is about scoring more and conceding less and we did everything. We played exceptional but unfortunately we could not win so it is what it is.

"I have to say thank you to these players from deep in my heart because the way they played. But football is about winning and we didn't do enough yet we were exceptional.

"Sometimes you can win on penalties and sometimes you cannot. But in the game we did not convert the chances that we had, even though we defended really. Everyone performed at a high level. We said we would have to be at our best to play Real Madrid and they were."

On the other hand, another Premier League team Arsenal crashed out of the UEFA Champions League after suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat to German giants Bayern Munich, and ended their hopes of reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 2009.

The Gunners had gone into the second leg of the quarter-final tie with the scores tied at 2-2 after an impressive away performance in the first leg. 

However, Bayern proved to be too strong on their home turf (Allianz Arena), with Joshua Kimmich's second-half header proving to be the decisive goal that sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory for the Bundesliga champions.

Arsenal put up a brave fight against the illustrious German side who had already lost the Bundesliga title to Bayer Leverkusen last weekend, but they ultimately fell short in their quest to reach the semi-finals of Europe's premier club competition. 

According to Opta Stats, Arsenal have been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League knockout stage by Bayern Munich for a fifth time; only Real Madrid (6 v Bayern) have eliminated a single opponent more times in knockout ties in the competition

Arsenal, the focus now shifts to the Premier League, where they also suffered a setback at the weekend in the race for the title following a perplexing 2-0 loss at home to Aston Villa. 

They'll be hoping for Man City to slip up if they are to claim a first title in 20 years.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta speaking after the the game said;

"Very sad and disappointed with the final result. It was a tie of very small margins. In the first leg we conceded two poor goals. 

"Today we came here and I’m really proud of the players, especially in the first half. It was a game where you can see an error or individual brilliance would make the difference. We didn’t defend our box well enough.

"Credit to the opponent as well. It’s hard to break the opponents down when they play in the manner that they did. We struggled to keep that momentum in the second half. They’re never games with big big chances. Very rare. 

"I don’t know if it was lack of belief. The goal put them in a really good position. I saw the players. We lacked the magic to unlock the game and open that door. That’s why we are out."... The Spaniard added.

"We haven’t played this game for 7 years. There’s a reason for it. We want to do everything fast forward in one season. Those margins are coming from something else that we don’t have yet. Other clubs it took seven, eight or 10 years.

"It’s there. It’s not going to go away tonight but I can guarantee you by tomorrow we’re fully focused on Wolves on Saturday, and what we have to play for is beautiful. It’s easy to be behind the players when we win 10 in a row. The moment is now, we have to be close to the players. What they need to do is stand right next to them, give them our support and our love."

Other English sides are also having it difficult at this stage in Europe, as Liverpool will try to overturn a 3-0 deficit against Atalanta in Italy on Thursday, and West Ham must come from 2-0 down to Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League quarter-finals.

Though, Aston Villa have a 2-1 lead over Lille in the Europa Conference League.