Champions League semi-final review: Monaco march on; Barcelona blank

Ligue 1 leaders Monaco slammed another three passed Dortmund on their way to the semi-finals of the Champions League, and Barcelona drew a blank at home to Juventus to exit in the quarter-finals for the second successive season.

Borussia Dortmund was a dark horse in the race to Cardiff for the final of the Champions League. The German side dominated a group that contained the champions, Real Madrid, scoring a record 21 times, without losing a single game.

They swatted Benfica aside like an irritable fly in the Round of 16, and they were the bookmaker’s favourites to make light work of Monaco in the Quarter-Final.

And then the club’s Champions League hopes were literally blown apart after the team bus heading to the Westfalenstadion for the first leg was struck by three roadside bombs, shattering the windows and fracturing the arm of defender Marc Batra.