Eze and Rice fire Arsenal past Leverkusen into quarter-finals

Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze opened his Champions League account with a stunning goal as his side outclassed Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 at home to reach the quarter-finals with a 3-1 aggregate victory. The tireless Declan Rice made it 2-0 just past the hour mark with a precise low finish and Leverkusen, who ended Arsenal’s 100% record in this season’s competition when they had the better of a 1-1 draw in last week’s first leg, never really threatened a comeback.

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Havertz rescues draw for Arsenal on return to Leverkusen

Kai Havertz scored a late penalty as Arsenal came from behind to draw with Bayer Leverkusen in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie at the BayArena. The German forward who spent 10 years at Leverkusen before moving to Chelsea for £71m in 2020, slotted the ball past Janis Blaswich in the 89th minute after Noni Madueke had been brought down by Malik Tillman. Arsenal had gone behind for the first time in the competition this season when Robert Andrich headed in a well-worked Alex Grimaldo corner.

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Bayer Leverkusen appoint Erik ten Hag as new manager

Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has signed a two-year contract to succeed Xabi Alonso as head coach of German club Bayer Leverkusen. It is the first managerial role that Ten Hag, 55, has taken since his departure from United in October. Alonso was confirmed as the new boss of Spanish giants Real Madrid on Sunday. The Dutchman had enjoyed prior success with Ajax before joining United in 2022.

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