MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Liverpool blitz as five English clubs reach last 16 for first time
LIVERPOOL sealed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 7-0 thrashing of Spartak Moscow as stand-in skipper Philippe Coutinho hit a hat-trick.
On a historic night for English football, Liverpool joined Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham in Monday’s draw for the knockout stages. It is the first time any country has had five clubs in the last 16 of the competition.
Spurs, who had already won Group H, beat Apoel Nicosia 3-0 at Wembley.
Former Ireland striker John Aldridge (@Realaldo474) was looking forward to the derby with Everton at the weekend, tweeting: “Simply simply scintillating!!! bring on the toffees!”.
Pep Guardiola paid tribute to Shakhtar Donetsk after they handed his Manchester City side a first defeat since April, saying, ‘They played a good game.’
IT has taken 29 games and seven-and-a-half months, but Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City finally tasted defeat on a freezing night in Ukraine. City’s imperious run at home and abroad came to an abrupt halt here in the Metalist Stadium at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk and a Brazilian contingent who ripped them to shreds in the first half.
A first defeat since losing the FA Cup semi-final to Arsenal on April 23 was not a total surprise in what was a dead rubber for City.
Guardiola, facing a very capable Shakhtar side still fighting for their Champions League lives, rested players to avoid unnecessary injuries ahead of the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Sunday.
But the manner of it will concern the City boss who will not have enjoyed seeing his team so comprehensively outplayed. So too will the fact that it follows three unconvincing Premier League wins over Huddersfield, Southampton and West Ham.
Guardiola stood solemnly on the touchline, his breath visible in the cold night air as he screamed instructions, but to little avail.
City were two down by half-time and well on the way to a rare defeat after winning 21 of their 22 games this season. Sergio Aguero’s late penalty mattered little.
By doing so, they failed to become only the sixth club in Champions League history to finish the group stage with a 100 per cent record. Not even Guardiola’s great Barcelona side, Lionel Messi and all, managed to win all six of their group games.
Instead, he will wait to see how his players absorb this setback, albeit in slightly mitigated circumstances.
The Catalan has said many times this season that defeat was inevitable, and the key will be how his players react.
‘I assure you that sooner or later we’ll lose,’ he said on the eve of this game. ‘We’ll recover the next day and sleep well and then we’ll try to win again.’
City’s 100 per cent record after five games in this competition ensured they had already reached the knockout stage as winners of Group F before a ball had been kicked here in Kharkiv, allowing Guardiola to make changes before that trip to Old Trafford.
Phil Foden, of whom so much is expected in the future, was handed his full debut at left wing-back and Tosin Adarabioyo made his second Champions League start alongside Fernandinho and Eliaquim Mangala in an unfamiliar three-man defence.
At 17 years and 191 days, Foden became the youngest player to start a Champions League game for an English club since Cesc Fabregas for Arsenal in 2004.
Shakhtar, on the other hand, still had much to play for and needed a point to be sure of qualifying in second place ahead of Napoli. The club’s record at home to English clubs certainly suggested that was possible against a weakened City side, even though Shakhtar are playing 150 miles from home due to the conflict in Donetsk.
They came into this game unbeaten in six games against Premier League teams, having won four of them and drawn two.
The Brazilian trio of Bernard, Marlos and Taison bring creative flair to the Ukrainian champions, and they set the early pace which resulted in the home team taking a 26th-minute lead.
Bernard had already tormented Adarabioyo early on when he broke down the left and tempted the young defender into a wild swing at thin air. The ball was slipped to Facundo Ferreyra and it needed a crucial block by Fernandinho to keep out the Argentine’s effort with Ederson stranded.
Taison’s surging run away from Yaya Toure spanning half the length of the field then ended with Marlos’s effort comfortably dealt with by the City keeper, but he had no chance with the next attempt. Again Taison made the initial break and the ball was fed to Bernard on the left-hand side of the box. He weighed up his options for a moment and spotted Ederson slightly off his line.
The execution still had to be perfect, though, and it was. Bernard curled his shot over the outstretched fingertips of the City keeper and under the bar.
Ederson rushed out to block from the same player moments later after Taison had created another chance, but he was guilty of the error that handed Shakhtar a second goal in the 32nd minute.
Ismaily galloped into space to reach Taison’s pass swung down the left channel, and the Brazilian goalkeeper raced off his line to try to intercept.
One of the reasons City signed Ederson was his quality as a sweeper-keeper, but he got it badly wrong this time. Ismaily was first to the ball, took it round the 24year-old and slotted it into an empty net.
City were rocking. Shakhtar keeper Andriy Pyatov came out to claim the ball and send Gabriel Jesus sprawling after he had been put through by Foden, but that was City’s only real chance of the first half and it ended with Taison wriggling through to swing another shot inches over the bar.
The second half was lacking in incident by comparison. City were improved and Fernandinho placed a free header wide before making way for Sergio Aguero, while Jesus clipped the outside of the post after great work by young substitute Brahim Diaz.
Guardiola’s side did manage to pull a goal back in added time when Jesus was tripped in the box and Aguero converted from the penalty spot. It was the fifth game in a row that City have snatched a late goal. But after those dramatic winners, this one made little difference.
Shakhtar won and both clubs advance to the knockout stage in February when Guardiola’s approach and line-up will be altogether different.
For now, he will switch his sights to the Manchester derby and ensuring this remains a blip. SHAKHTAR DONETSK (4-2-3-1): ): Pyatov 6.5; Butko 6, Ordets 6.5, Rakitsky 6, Ismaily 7 (Azevedo 64 min, 6); Stepanenko 6, Fred 6.5; Marlos 7 (Kovalenko 82), TAISON 8, Bernard 7; Ferreyra 6 (Khocholava 89). Subs not used: Shevchenko, Dentinho, Patrick, Petriak. Scorers: Bernard 26, Ismaily 32. Booked: Rakitskiy. Manager: Paulo Fonseca 7. MAN CITY (3-4-3): Ederson 5; Adarabioyo 5.5, Fernandinho 6 (Aguero 70, 6), Mangala 5.5; Danilo 5, Toure 6, Gundogan 6, Foden 6; B Silva 5, Gabriel Jesus 5.5, Sane 6 (Diaz 62, 6.5). Subs not used: Bravo, Walker, Sterling, Otamendi, Duhaney. Scorer: Aguero 90+2. Booked: Danilo, Gundogan. Manager: Pep Guardiola 7. Referee: Benoit Bastien (France) 7.