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Harry Kane scored a goal in each half as Bayern Munich beat Lazio 3-0 on Tuesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals 3-1 on aggregate.
Meanwhile Kylian Mbappe scored a deadly brace to hand PSG a 2-1 win and a 4-1 aggregate victory over Real Sociedad.
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‘PERFECT NIGHT’ FOR KANE
Kane headed Bayern level in the tie in the 38th minute, cancelling out Lazio’s lead from the first leg with his first Champions League knockout goal in five years.
Thomas Mueller doubled the hosts’ lead with a clever header before halftime and Kane doubled up in the 66th minute, tapping in the rebound from a Leroy Sane shot to seal Bayern’s progress to the next round.
“It was a perfect night for us,” Kane told Amazon Prime.
“Everyone with energy, all around the pitch, the way we played and created chances and pressed without the ball — it was a top, top performance.”
Bayern kept their slim hopes of silverware this season alive while likely giving outgoing coach Thomas Tuchel a stay of execution until the quarter-finals in April.
Kane recognised the manner of Tuchel’s exit was “unusual” but said “nights like this can change the season. I’m proud of the boys — we just have to keep this momentum up.” Mueller, a two-time Champions League winner, said: “We’re going to make sure everyone enjoys this feeling, nevermind what is in the newspaper yesterday or tomorrow.”
“We’re very happy because we know the importance of progressing further today.”
The loss snuffed out Lazio’s chance of a first Champions League quarter-final appearance since 1999-2000.
Six-time European champions Bayern came into Tuesday’s match staring down the barrel of a last-16 elimination for just the second time in the past 13 seasons.
Three straight losses including the 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Rome amounted to Bayern’s worst run since 2015, costing Tuchel his job less than a year after arriving in Munich.
Scorer of the first leg’s only goal, Ciro Immobile had a golden chance to extend Lazio’s lead after a Matthijs de Ligt mistake on 36 minutes but dragged his header just wide.
The miss would prove costly with Kane breaking through moments later, heading in a scuffed Raphael Guerreiro shot to even up the tie.
Mueller, another to see more game time after the announcement of Tuchel’s impending departure, doubled Bayern’s lead in first-half stoppage time, heading in a De Ligt shot in trademark poacher fashion.
Kane made sure Bayern stayed in Europe though, turning in from close range after Sane forced a save from Lazio ‘keeper Ivan Provedel, his 33rd goal in as many appearances this season.
Mbappe leads PSG into quarter finals | 00:29
‘BEST IN THE WORLD’ MBAPPE SHINES
Kylian Mbappe lethally fired Paris Saint-Germain into the Champions League quarter-finals with a brace in a 2-1 win at Real Sociedad on Tuesday, his team cruising through 4-1 on aggregate.
Coach Luis Enrique has slashed Mbappe’s minutes in recent weeks after the player told the club he would leave at the end of the season, but the France captain proved he will be vital if PSG are to finally win the competition for the first time.
The electric Mbappe was impossible for Real Sociedad to shackle and his strikes after 15 and 56 minutes left the Ligue 1 leaders with a simple night in the north of Spain.
Played into the box but wide of goal, Mbappe produced the opener from thin air. With a couple of clever touches he sent Igor Zubeldia scrambling and opened up enough space for a shot, which he whipped into the far corner from a tight angle.
Mbappe’s vicious strike pulled part of the netting away from the post and players had to wait until it was fixed for play to resume.
Mbappe stretched PSG’s lead 11 minutes into the second half, racing in behind the defence from the halfway line.
The striker shaped another shot to the far post but then tricked Remiro by sweeping home at the near for his sixth goal in eight Champions League matches this season.
One of few negative notes for PSG was a booking for defender Achraf Hakimi, which will rule him out of the quarter-final first leg.
PSG, in the last eight for the first time since 2021, will worry about that later — this was a night to celebrate Mbappe’s genius, despite the clock ticking down on his days in Paris.
“(Mbappe) is the best player in the world in the final third when running in on goal, unstoppable, invincible,” Luis Enrique told Movistar.
“He was very good, but just like all his teammates — this is a team and we need everyone.”
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