City have one foot in quarters
Basel (Switzerland), Feb.
14: Ilkay Gundogan dazzled with two goals in Manchester City’s 4-0 romp at FC Basel on Tuesday to leave the Premier League leaders on the verge of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Pep Guardiola’s side effectively settled the last16 tie after just 23 minutes by racing into a 3-0 lead at Basel’s Sankt Jakob Park.
Their first three goals came in a devastating nine-minute spell thanks to a Gundogan header, a Bernardo Silva volley and a long-range Sergio Aguero strike.
Basel’s misery continued just after the break when Gundogan deftly added a fourth from outside the area and he could easily have finished with a hattrick.
“To win 4-0 away in the last 16 is an amazing result, we are almost in the quarter-finals, but I am not saying we are already there, out of respect for Basel,” said Guardiola.
“We defended well and we were clinical — we had four chances and took them all.”
The scoreline gives the Swiss side little hope for the return leg at the Etihad on March 7.
As expected, Basel were starved of the ball as City enjoyed 69 per cent possession and completed 754 of their 882 passes.
“For a Champions League game, we did ever so well,” said City captain Vincent Kompany after his first Champions League appearance this season.
“In these kinds of situations, it is about more than going through — if we have a draw at home that won’t give us a good feeling.”
Germany midfielder Gundogan gave Basel a masterclass in defensive midfield play, complementing his two-goal display by repeatedly snuffing out fledgling Swiss attacks.
The only black mark against him was a late yellow card after a clash with Basel’s Ivory Coast veteran midfielder Serey Die.
Basel head coach Raphael Wicky opted to play a back five when the host were defending, but the ploy only failed to keep City out for the first 14 minutes.
Having already had an earlier effort tipped over the bar, Gundogan got in front of Fabian Frei to power home his header when Kevin De Bruyne whipped in City’s fourth corner of the game.
The visitors’ second goal followed just four minutes later.
ERIKSEN GRABS DRAW FOR SPURS
Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen pulled Tottenham back from the brink to hold Juventus 2-2 in Turin, spoiling what had looked set to be a Gonzalo Higuain one-man show in Turin.
Higuain had put Juventus — losing finalists twice in the past three seasons — two goals up within the first nine minutes at the Allianz Stadium.
The Argentine’s lightning strike after just 73 seconds was followed by a second from the spot to leave Mauricio Pochettino’s English side reeling. But the 30-year-old missed two further chances to hammer home Juventus’s advantage in the first half, with striking the crossbar with a second penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Kane had pulled Tottenham back into the tie, beating veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon on 35 minutes with Eriksen whipping in the second with a 70th-minute freekick to leave it all to play for in London next month.
“The team showed real character to come here and challenge a team like Juventus,” said Pochettino who blamed the inexperience of his side for their sluggish start.
“I think we weren’t focused and it was difficult to manage the first seven minutes. I’m very happy that it’s still open and we’re going to play the second leg in London.”
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri warned they would be ready to challenge again for a place in the quarterfinals. —