LONDON — Manchester United made short work of Atletico Madrid to reach the Women’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a 2-0 win.
Following their 5-0 aggregate dismissal of Atletico, Marc Skinner’s side will take on Bayern Munich in the next round. Wolfsburg joined United in the last eight as they secured an impressive 2-0 victory at Juventus to progress 4-2 over both legs.
Already 3-0 up from the first leg in Spain, United effectively ended the tie as a contest inside half-an-hour as Julia Zigiotti Olme netted at Leigh Sports Village.
England international Jess Park doubled the hosts’ advantage on the night with a fine strike following a short-corner routine on 41 minutes.
With the clock winding down, Atletico found themselves reduced to 10 as Xenia Perez saw red in the 85th minute.
Earlier, Vivien Endemann put two-time champions Wolfsburg ahead on aggregate in the 18th minute at the Juventus Stadium.
The hosts desperately sought a leveller but the tie was put to bed six minutes into second-half injury-time when Cora Zicai curled an excellent finish past Danielle de Jong, which found the back of the net via the crossbar.
“We are very happy to have reached the quarter-finals, that was our goal,” Wolfsburg’s player of the match and goalkeeper Stina Johannes said.
“I think we played a good game, although the last 20 minutes were a bit stressful because Juve put us under some pressure,” Johannes added according to AFP.
The Germans will face a rematch of their triumphant 2013 Champions League final in the last eight, when they will meet Lyon.
“They are a team with history who have always been really difficult opponents. We have played against them in the league phase (3-1 loss) and they were really good,” Johannes said of the French eight-time champions.
Elsewhere, two-time champion Wolfsburg reached the quarter-finals of Women´s Champions League by winning 2-0 away at Juventus in their playoffs.
Wolfsburg advanced to its 13th quarter-final in 14 seasons with a 4-2 aggregate score after the German club rallied from two goals down at home in the first-leg last week to draw 2-2.
The Germans set up a quarter-final against record eight-time European champion Lyon.
Vivien Endemann opened the scoring on a fast counterattack in the 18th minute when she collected a pass from Svenja Huth inside the box and slotted a low right-foot shot past goalkeeper Danielle de Jong.
Ana Capeta came close to equalising when she hit the crossbar with the best of numerous chances for the hosts before substitute Cora Zicai scored the second in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Title holder Arsenal and Real Madrid advanced to the quarter-finals after eliminating OH Leuven and Paris FC, respectively.
The new Women´s Champions League format has followed the men´s that launched last year, with an opening league phase.
