Liverpool crept into the Champions League quarter-finals despite a rare 1-0 defeat at Anfield to Inter Milan as the English giants progressed 2-1 on aggregate, while Bayern Munich romped home to a 7-1 win over RB Salzburg to seal their progression.
The Italian champions started with a thirst to make amends as they pinned the Reds back in the first half without seriously testing Alisson Becker bar a dangerous Hakan Calhanoglu free-kick that the Brazilian parried to safety.
Liverpool took half an hour to pose any sort of threat, but when they did, they again exposed a frailty in the Inter defence from set-pieces.
Joel Matip was inches away from opening the scoring as his header crashed off the bar before, from the resulting corner, Virgil Van Dijk’s goalbound effort was deflected wide.
After a subdued first 45 minutes, Liverpool were fired up by Jurgen Klopp at the break and should have taken the lead on the night minutes after the restart when Mohamed Salah turned a loose ball inside the box onto the post.
At the other end, Martinez looked to have wasted the chance to get Inter back in the tie when he dragged a shot wide from the edge of the area.
But the Argentine made amends in spectacular fashion when he arrowed an effort into the top corner from outside the box on 62 minutes.
Inter’s joy lasted barely a minute before they were reduced to 10 men by Sanchez’s ill-discipline.
The Chilean had been lucky to escape with just a yellow card for a dangerous lunge on Thiago Alcantara just before half-time and stupidly dived in on Fabinho to earn a second yellow.
Salah hit the post again 15 minutes from time and only an incredible block from Arturo Vidal denied Luis Diaz in stoppage time as Liverpool failed to make their numerical advantage count.
Klopp’s men failed to score for only the fourth time this season and fell to only a third defeat in 44 games in all competitions.
But their quest for a historic quadruple of trophies remains intact as Inter’s 10-men could barely get a foot on the ball in the closing stages, let alone muster another goal to take the game to extra time.
In the other game of the night, Robert Lewandowski scored a record-breaking 11-minute hat-trick to send Bayern Munich sailing into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 7-1 win at home to Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday.
The Polish striker had three goals to his name by the 23rd minute — the earliest anyone has ever completed a hat-trick in a Champions League game — as Bayern shook off their early nerves to crush Salzburg.
The Austrian champions had held Bayern to a 1-1 draw in the first leg, but their hopes of an upset in Munich were left in tatters when Lewandowski scored a tap-in and two penalties to send Bayern on their way to a famous victory.
With just ten minutes and 27 seconds between Lewandowski’s first and third goals, it was the fastest of the six hat-tricks the Pole has now scored in the Champions League.
Bayern were then purring, and Serge Gnabry drilled home a crushingly inevitable fourth after an elegant passing move on the half-hour mark.
Thomas Mueller curled a brilliant shot into the bottom corner to make it 5-0 shortly after half time, before Bayern switched on cruise control.
The guests grabbed a consolation goal with a clinical counter-attack 20 minutes from time, 18-year-old Dane Maurits Kjaergaard smashing a Geoff-Hurst-like finish into the top corner past Manuel Neuer.
But the hosts had the last word as Mueller stroked home his second and Lewandowski set up Sane for Bayern’s seventh a few minutes from time.