PARIS, France: Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid will find out their semifinal opponents on Friday (Saturday in Manila) as they continue their bid for a third straight Champions League title, with Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Roma the only remaining challengers to their crown. Record 12-time European champions Real threw away a 3-0 first-leg lead at the Santiago Bernabeu, only for Ronaldo’s penalty in the eighth minute of injury-time to send them through in dramatic fashion as Juve great Gianluigi Buffon was sent off. Only three sides in history have won the competition three years or more in a row — Real from 1956-1960, Ajax from 1971-73 and Bayern Munich from 1974-76. But Real are now three games away from becoming the first team to achieve the feat twice, having also lifted the trophy as recently as 2014. Bayern are in the pot for the sixth time in seven seasons after falling to Real in the quarterfinals last year, with fellow five-time champions Liverpool back in the semis for the first time since 2008.

Source: Manila Times April 13, 2018 14:48 UTC