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Inter Milan strolled into the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday after seeing off Feyenoord 2-1 to go through 4-1 on aggregate.

A thumping early strike from Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty gave Inter comfortable passage to the last eight, where the Italian champions will face a blockbuster clash with Bayern Munich.

Feyenoord’s deepest run in Europe’s top club competition in decades ended with a whimper although the away side did briefly look like making a game of it when Jakub Moder rattled in a penalty three minutes before the break.

Hosts Inter could have easily won by more after missing a clutch of good chances, with Thuram drilling a great opportunity against the bar moments before being substituted to rapturous applause with 19 minutes remaining.

READ ALSO: Bayern Down Leverkusen To Reach Champions League Quarters

Inter were already comfortably ahead from their dominant first leg display in Rotterdam but Thuram made sure there would be no nasty surprises in the eighth minute.

The France forward received a ball from Carlos Augusto on the left flank and then charged towards goal, cutting inside onto his right foot and unleashing a ferocious shot against which Timon Wellenreuther could do nothing to stop.

That goal made it near impossible for Feyenoord, now led by former Netherlands striker Robin van Persie whose team showed willing even with 11 players out of action through injury or suspension.

Up to Thuram’s opener Simone Inzaghi’s 200th game as Inter coach had been played in near silence bar sporadic chanting from the 5, 000 away supporters, as home fans stayed silent for the first 20 minutes in protest at the increasing cost of tickets for home matches.

Inzaghi, himself hit with a series of important absences including Italy wing-back Federico Dimarco, also rested star striker Lautaro Martinez, Nicolo Barella, Francesco Acerbi and Alessandro Bastoni with a huge match at Serie A title rivals Atalanta coming up at the weekend.

It was one of Inzaghi’s regulars in Calhanoglu who gave Feyenoord a lifeline in the 38th minute when he bundled into Moder to hand the Poland midfielder a chance to level the scores on the night.

However Calhanoglu redeemed himself five minutes after the break by confidently stroking home from the spot after what looked like a soft foul on Mehdi Taremi by Thomas Beelen.

Calhanoglu’s ninth goal of the season made it party time in the stands and gave Inter a truly high-profile tie with Bayern which will bring back memories of the 2010 treble, the last time an Italian team won the Champions League.

Mikel Arteta said Arsenal are focused on “fighting to win every game” even though their Premier League dream appears to be over as they eye the next round of the Champions League.

The second-placed Gunners trail Premier League leaders Liverpool by 15 points after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United extended their winless league run to three matches.

It is a crushing disappointment for Arsenal, who have finished as runners-up to Manchester City for the past two seasons.

Arsenal, who have one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals after their 7-1 first-leg away win over PSV Eindhoven last week, host the Dutch side at the Emirates in Wednesday’s reverse fixture.

“We are going to carry on fighting to win every game”, Spanish coach Arteta said at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

“There are the demands we put on ourselves in every competition. We are very much conscious that the demands for this football club are to reach the highest level and to win football matches.

” There’s always improvement. We have talked about what we can do better, it’s about execution. My job is to give the players as many tools so we can deliver again. “

READ ALSO: &nbsp, Man Utd ‘ Need More Brunos, ‘ Says Amorim After Fine Fernandes Free-Kick

Despite missing injured forwards Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz, Arsenal had six different scorers in their crushing victory over PSV.

The Gunners, who have never won the Champions League, will face the winners of the tie between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the next round should they advance, as expected, on Wednesday.

” It’s a competition that we have a lot of enthusiasm for. We have been very consistent and tomorrow can put us in an exciting position, “Arteta said.

France international defender William Saliba is keen to help guide his side to their first trophy since Arsenal’s 2020 FA Cup triumph against Chelsea.

” I think we are very close, we need to keep going, “Saliba said, referring to Arsenal’s trophy ambitions.

” We can’t stop working. When you’re close and don’t win trophies it’s sad. With work we will make a big step and I am sure we will arrive there.

“Everyone wants to win the Champions League, it’s a competition that’s hard to win, anything can happen”.

Lamine Yamal and Raphinha dazzled as Barcelona thumped Benfica 3-1 on Tuesday, reaching the Champions League quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate.

Raphinha netted either side of a stunning Yamal strike as the Catalans dominated in the first half, building on their 1-0 last 16, first leg win in Lisbon.

Nicolas Otamendi had quickly levelled Raphinha’s opener but the visitors were blown away at the Olympic Stadium as Barcelona progressed comfortably from the tie and produced some moments of brilliant attacking football.

Hansi Flick’s side will face Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarter-finals as they aim to win the competition for the first time since 2015 and the era of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Flick said Barca would play for late club doctor Carles Minarro, who died suddenly on Saturday ahead of the team’s match against Osasuna, which was postponed, and the players observed a silence in his honour before kick-off.

Five-time winners Barca took the lead after 11 minutes when Spain international Yamal burst into the area, chopped his way past Florentino and then mishit the ball across to Raphinha for a simple finish.

Benfica levelled within two minutes when Otamendi escaped Ronald Araujo to head home from a corner.

Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny excelled in the first leg as the Catalans claimed an impressive win with 10 men after Pau Cubarsi’s red card, but might have done more to keep out Otamendi’s effort.

READ ALSO: &nbsp, Man Utd ‘ Need More Brunos, ‘ Says Amorim After Fine Fernandes Free-Kick

However Barcelona, and particularly their wingers Yamal and Raphinha, were in sensational form and they quickly reclaimed their lead.

Yamal netted his first goal in seven matches, but it was worth the wait, with the 17-year-old cutting in from the right and arcing a sensational shot past Anatoliy Trubin and in at the far post from the edge of the box.

Raphinha grabbed his second before the break to give Barcelona a three-goal aggregate lead after a blistering run by Alejandro Balde.

The left-back won the ball back in his area and sliced open the Portuguese team on the counter, carrying it to the edge of Benfica’s area before teeing up Raphinha.

It was the winger’s 11th strike of the competition and he leads the scoring charts.

Bruno Lage’s side were without injured midfielder Angel Di Maria but even with him beating Flick’s Barca on this form would have been a difficult ask.

Fredrik Aursnes netted for Benfica in the second half but the goal was disallowed for offside against Vangelis Pavlidis, who scored a hat-trick as Barca won 5-4 in their first meeting this season, in the league stage in January.

For the most part Benfica struggled to trouble Szczesny, and Barcelona came close to scoring a fourth when Frenkie de Jong poked wide on the stretch at the end of a razor-sharp team move.

Barcelona now await their quarter-final opponent and can start preparing to visit Atletico Madrid in La Liga on Sunday, in a huge clash in the Spanish title race.