Man City, Real Madrid into Champions League quarters
Holder Manchester City cruised into the Champions League quarterfinals for the seventh consecutive season with a 3-1 victory over FC Copenhagen late Wednesday in their last-16 second leg that wrapped up a 6-2 aggregate triumph.
City, which started the game with a two-goal cushion, took care of business early with first-half goals by Manuel Akanji, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland.
With a trip to Liverpool in a top-of-the-table Premier League clash to come on Sunday, manager Pep Guardiola had the luxury of resting key players including Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, making seven changes to his side that beat Manchester United 3-1 in last Sunday’s league derby.
City is a point behind Liverpool and a point ahead of Arsenal after 27 league games in tight title race. It is also in the thick of the FA Cup, with a quarterfinal against Newcastle United on March 16.
“To be part of the titles, we need everyone,” Guardiola said. “For one more year we are in the best eight teams in Europe. Incredibly happy we are still in all competitions.”
City joined Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain in the quarters, with the final four teams to be determined next week.
“We are a team that believes we can do it,” Guardiola said. “Listen, we’re competing with Real
Madrid and Bayern Munich. We don’t know who we are going to face. It’s a question of wait and see. The important thing is seven years in a row we are here.”
City will find out its quarterfinal opponent in the draw on March 15.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, withstood an onslaught from RB Leipzig to secure a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their last-16 tie that sent the Spanish side through to the quarters with a 2-1 aggregate victory, also late Wednesday.
RB Leipzig was arguably the better side and missed several gilt-edged chances. But Real Madrid increased the tempo in the second half and ultimately did enough to seal its place in the last eight once again.
Bidding for a record-extending 15th Champions League title, Real took the lead thanks to a Vinicius Jr. strike from a counter attack in the 65th minute.
But Leipzig’s Willi Orban leveled the score three minutes later with a header to set up a tense final few minutes that included a strike that hit the crossbar by Dani Olmo.
Even though Real has a formidable record in Europe, having been knocked out in the round-of-16 only twice in the past 14 years while winning the title five times during that period, Carlo Ancelotti’s team began rather cagily before buckling down.
“Obviously we know it wasn´t the best game of the season,” said Real’s captain Nacho.
“Sometimes you just have bad games and tonight was the case. It looks like a drama because of how we played but what really matters is we qualified for the quarters. Let that be a lesson for what’s to come.” (Reuters)