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Champions League Results 2022: Top Scorers After Wednesday Quarterfinal Ties
April 6, 2022
Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Villarreal are one step closer to the UEFA Champions League semifinals.
Liverpool defeated Benfica 3-1 and Manchester City defeated Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the first leg of their quarterfinal ties on Tuesday, while Real Madrid defeated Chelsea 3-1 and Villarreal defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 in their first legs on Wednesday.
While much of the attention is on the results as the eight remaining teams battle for the title, there was also a shakeup when it came to the top scorers in Champions League play thus far with Karim Benzema scoring a hat trick for Real Madrid.
Here is a look at the top of the list, which can be found in full at UEFA.com.
1. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich, 12 goals
T2. Sebastien Haller, Ajax, 11 goals
T2. Karim Benzema, Real Madrid, 11 goals
4. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, 8 goals
5. Christopher Nkunku, Leipzig, 7 goals
Salah is the one in the top five for goals for Liverpool, but they used more of a balanced attack to create a two-goal lead over Benfica in Tuesday's matchup.
Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz were the ones to find the back of the net in the impressive showing. Diaz in particular shined with an assist on the Mane goal and his own insurance goal in the 87th minute.
That final goal figures to be key as Liverpool looks to hold onto the aggregate advantage in the second leg next Wednesday.
There were far fewer fireworks for Manchester City in their win over Atletico Madrid, but star midfielder Kevin De Bruyne continued his red-hot streak with a timely goal in the 70th minute just when it appeared the two sides would head to the second leg with a scoreless draw:
Attention then shifted to Wednesday, and Benzema wasted little time stealing the show.
The Real Madrid forward buried two headers in the opening 24 minutes as his side stunned the Stamford Bridge crowd and quickly seized control. He also skyrocketed himself into the top three on the Champions League goals leaderboard and just missed a first-half hat trick with an open look at a potential third.
However, Chelsea didn't fold, cutting the lead in half with Kai Havertz's goal before intermission.
Yet it felt like just a matter of time before Benzema would score again, and he did one minute into the second half. Perhaps the only surprise was that his third goal didn't come off a header, as he took advantage of a terrible Chelsea turnover and provided some breathing room for Real Madrid.
That lead held up thanks to multiple key saves by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and strong defense the rest of the way.
Benzema was the headliner Wednesday, but he wasn't the only one to lead his team to victory.
Villarreal forward Arnaut Danjuma finished some impressive teamwork by his side with a deflection into the goal in the eighth minute:
It didn't appear as if the lead would hold up with Bayern Munich controlling possession and finishing with a 22-12 advantage in shots, but Villarreal's defense and goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli had an answer for every attempt.