The Champions League quarter-finals got underway this week with Karim Benzema grabbing a hat-trick to put Real Madrid in the driving seat in their tie with holders Chelsea.

Elsewhere Liverpool have one foot in the semi-finals after beating Benfica while Manchester City and Villarreal edged out Atletico Madrid and Villarreal respectively.

Manchester City 1-0 Atletico Madrid

This fixture was a clash of styles as the possession-heavy approach of Pep Guardiola came up against the defensively resolute Diego Simeone and his gladiatorial approach to winning.

The game played out as expected with Atletico camped in and allowing City to have control of the ball and play in front of the Spaniards. In turn, Atletico had hoped to catch City on the break but no decent opportunities truly presented themselves.

The Citizens huffed and puffed for the majority of the first hour with Jan Oblak only troubled sporadically before Kevin De Bruyne scored what proved to be the game’s winning goal, finishing confidently after being found in the box by Phil Foden.

City were unable to add a second but will take a lead to Spain and know that at some point, Atletico will have to come out and attack, which should open up space on the counter.

Simeone will not be devastated by the result as the tie is still very much alive. A greater attacking threat will be required next Wednesday however if Atleti are to spring a surprise.

Benfica 1-3 Liverpool

Liverpool look well placed to continue their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple after claiming a two-goal victory in Lisbon.

The Reds started on the front foot and played with an intensity that their Portuguese counterparts were struggling to match.

It was therefore no surprise when Jurgen Klopp’s side went ahead. Ibrahima Konate powered home his first goal for the club to set the Merseysiders on their way.

Sadio Mane would double the lead in the first after a wonderful ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold picked out Luis Diaz, who remained composed to head across to Mane to tap into the empty net.

Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita both had further opportunities as Liverpool looked to win the tie in one leg but Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos performed admirably to keep it at two.

Benfica were afforded a lifeline early in the second half when Darwin Nunez pounced on a Konate error to calmly slot home and ramp up the atmosphere in the Estadio Da Luz.

Liverpool lost their way a bit and struggled to hold on to the ball as the hosts pressed but Diaz inflicted a damaging blow late on as Naby Keita’s deflected through ball found the former Porto man who rounded Vlachodimos to restore the two-goal cushion.

The Reds are now firm favourites to advance to the final four with Benfica needing a huge performance at Anfield.

Chelsea 1-3 Real Madrid

In what was the most eye-catching tie of the round on paper, Karim Benzema lit up the midweek action with a hat-trick for the second Champions League game in a row as Real Madrid left Chelsea on the brink of elimination.

Benzema was on form from the off. A brilliant backheel allowed Federico Valverde to play the ball into Vinicius Junior, who smacked the crossbar with his effort.

If this was a warning for Thomas Tuchel’s side, they did not heed it. In the 21st minute, Benzema played a lovely one-two with Vinicius who clipped the ball back for the onrushing Frenchman to score a glorious header past Edouard Mendy.

La Liga’s top scorer would repeat the trick just minutes later, finding space in the area to head Luka Modric’s cross into the bottom corner. It was such a difficult chance to convert but Benzema is operating on another level at the minute.

Chelsea did manage to get back into the game just before half-time with Kai Havertz powering a header past Thibaut Courtois to halve the deficit.

Any hopes that the goal may inspire a rousing comeback were dissipated almost instantly in the second as a mistake from Mendy was not dealt with at all well by Antonio Rudiger allowing Benzema the simple task of rolling it into an empty net from 25 yards.

After the difficulty of the opening two goals, the striker will have been surprised yet delighted at just how easy the third presented itself.

Chelsea tried to get back into the game with substitute Romelu Lukaku spurning a glorious chance by heading wide from six yards and Courtois saving brilliantly to deny Cesar Azpilicueta.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side did enough to hold on and look well placed to bring Chelsea’s tenure as European champions to an end, with Tuchel declaring the tie over in his post-match press conference.

Villarreal 1-0 Bayern Munich

This was the surprise result of the round, without question. Villarreal are relative novices at this level, with this being their first quarter-final in 13 years.

This did not stop the Yellow Submarines from producing a display full of energy and confidence to give themselves a slender advantage heading into next week’s second leg in Germany.

Former Bournemouth winger Arnaut Danjuma struck the only goal of the game in the eighth minute, diverting Dani Parejo’s effort past Manuel Neuer in the Bayern goal.

In what was an entertaining game with chances at either end, it will be the Spaniards who feel they left possibly a victory by a greater margin behind in this once.

Gerard Moreno almost scored from 45 yards out with Neuer stranded but his effort curled wide while Danjuma and Pedraza both spurned great chances to add to the worries for Julian Nagelsmann.

Francis Coquelin also saw his cross loop over Neuer and into the net only for VAR to catch the former Arsenal midfielder offside.

Bayern had chances too with Kingsley Coman twice going close but Nagelsmann will be relieved that the deficit is only one with a home return leg to come.

Bayern have done this before in losing or drawing first legs, only to smash the opposition once the action gets to the Allianz Arena.

Villarreal will be hoping to buck the trend and add another former winner to the list of clubs they have vanquished this season.

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