In the end, Barcelona's progress against Milan was easier than many had expected following the 0-0 draw at the San Siro and Marca noted the Italians were not as accomplished as in the first leg.

"Barcelona negotiated the awkward quarter-final easier than expected," it wrote. "It was not the fierce Milan of the first leg." Sport reckoned that Barcelona went through by, well, being Barcelona. "[Pep] Guardiola showed that if Barcelona play as they know how, they continue to be unstoppable for any rival … Guardiola weaved that trademark web that has given such good results in recent times." Sport also believe they know who Barcelona will play in the next round: "They will very likely face the Chelsea of Terry, Lampard, Mata and company. The ambition [of Barcelona] remains insatiable and Milan were able to prove it."

Gazzetta dello Sport called Barcelona's second penalty "controversial" but had few arguments with the result saying "the better team went through". "Milan did all they could, sparking off the hope of qualifying, but in the end it was the superheroes of soccer who made the difference." No surprises who was singled out for praise: Messi was "a whirlwind of thrilling emotion on two legs".

Bayern Munich's progress against Marseille was of little surprise after a 2-0 victory in the first leg and Süddeutsche Zeitung is already looking forward to the semi-final. "Hello Real!" reads one of their headlines, despite the fact that Madrid haven't played the second leg of their tie against Apoel. Die Welt goes even further talking about "the Bavarian dream via Spain". After taking on Madrid in the semi-final, the paper predicts "an endgame, probably against Barcelona". Suddeutsche Zeitung believes Bayern are peaking at exactly the right time: "As so often in the past 40 years, Munich in March and April find a wolf-like lust for victory, crushing their opponents between steely shoulders – and demanding respect." You wouldn't guess the paper is published in Munich, would you?

Understandably, the French press is rather more downbeat. "No miracle for OM," said Le Figaro. Le Monde looked at the contribution of Bayern's Franck Ribery against his former club. After praising his performance the paper went on to say: "What is sure, once again, is to wonder about the gap [between his performance for Bayern] and his poor services for France."