Bayern eliminate PSG; AC Milan smother Spurs

Sports Desk, Mar 8 (EFE).- For the fifth time in the last seven years, Paris Saint-Germain have crashed out of the Champions League in the round of 16, falling 2-0 Wednesday to Bayern Munich to lose the tie 3-0 on aggregate.

While AC Milan are headed to the quarterfinals of Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in more than a decade after holding Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 for a 1-0 aggregate win.

Despite the massive sums spent since Qatar Sports Investments bought the club in 2011, PSG have yet to win the Champions League and an attack led by seven-time Ballon d’Or Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe – arguably best in the world at this moment – was held scoreless for more than 180 minutes.

Trailing 1-0 after the first leg in Paris, the visitors started aggressively in Munich, where Bayern goalkeeper Yann Sommer had to be sharp to deny Mbappe in the 2nd minute.

Mbappe got another crack in the 19th, only to put the ball in the side-netting.

Sommer stopped Messi twice in rapid succession in the 25th minute, but needed defender Matthijs de Ligt to come to his aid with a goal-line stop in the 38th after the keeper got caught out of position.

Bayern were celebrating in the 52nd minute after Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting beat Gianluigi Donnarumma, yet the goal was disallowed because the offside Thomas Müller was deemed to have taken a touch.

Choupo-Moting, Bayern’s top scorer this season, put the ball in the net again just past the hour mark and the goal stood, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead in the tie.

Sergio Ramos forced a tremendous stop from Sommer in the 64th minute and Mbappe tested the Bayern keeper three minutes later.

The former Real Madrid captain headed just wide in the 82nd minute, seven minutes before Bayern’s Serge Gnabry scored to slam the door shut.

On a cold, rainy night in London, AC Milan played to defend their narrow 1-0 lead from the first leg and showed little interest in going forward. Even so, Spurs struggled to create chances and would have gone down 2-0 early in the second hand if not for a great save by Fraser Forster against Brahim Diaz.

The first serious threat from Spurs was an effort by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the 64th minute, turned aside for a corner by Milan keeper Mike Maignan.

Forster dealt with a shot from former Arsenal and Chelsea man Olivier Giroud in the 67th to keep Tottenham alive.

The hosts’ prospects suffered a blow heading into the final stretch as defender Cristian Romero picked up a second yellow card and was sent off.

Maignan was called on again in stoppage time as Harry Kane got his head to a pass from Son Heung-min, while the post thwarted Milan’s Divock Origi at the other end on the ensuing counter. EFE lmpg-msg/dr