Man City, Real gain advantage
BUDAPEST: Manchester City and Real Madrid have both won the away legs of their Champions League roundof16 ties, against Borussia Monchengladbach and Atalanta respectively.
The Portuguese connection of Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva combined to create and finish the goals in City’s 20 defeat of Monchengladbach in Budapest.
Real struggled to break down 10man Atalanta in Bergamo before Ferland Mendy netted an 86thminute winner to give the La Liga giant a 10 victory.
A 19th straight win for Premier League leader City never looked in doubt from the moment Cancelo pounced on a loose pass and swung in a cross from the left that the diminutive Silva headed in at the far post in the 29th minute.
The same combination struck again in the 65th, Cancelo send ing over a similar cross this time to the byline, where Silva nodded the ball across goal for Gabriel Jesus to prod into the net from inside the sixyard box.
It was another dominant display by Pep Guardiola’s side, who are unbeaten in all competitions in more than three months and have won every game since midDecember.
City did not even need Kevin De Bruyne who was an unused substitute on a night Cancelo — a tactically versatile defender — showed off the creative side that has made him one of Guardiola’s most important players this season.
‘‘He is so clever,’’ Guardiola said.
‘‘He gives us something special in our process to play.’’
The sight of record scorer Sergio Aguero coming on as a late substitute for his first appearance since January 3 because of injury capped a night full of positives for City, which is closing in on a fourth straight appearance in the last eight of the competition.
The game was played in Hungary because of coronavirus travel restrictions.
Real entered its clash with Atalanta as favourite despite a slew of injuries, and its hopes were boosted when midfielder Remo Freuler was sent off in the 17th minute for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
But the visitors, missing players including forward Karim Benzema, midfielder Eden Hazard and captain Sergio Ramos, still found it difficult to test Atalanta goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini until the end of the first half, when he pulled off a great reaction save to keep out Casemiro’s header from Toni Kroos’ free kick.
Just as it looked as if Atalanta would hold on for a draw, Mendy received the ball outside the area after a corner and curled a shot into net from 18m.
‘‘It’s a good result for us and that’s the most important thing,’’ Real coach Zinedine Zidane said.
‘‘I don’t think creativity is an issue as we scored, and didn’t concede.’’
City and Real will host the second legs on March 16.
■ Tottenham Hotspur crushed Austrian side Wolfsberger AC 40 at home yesterday to reach the last 16 of the Uefa Europa League.