The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
City march into semis, but Liverpool bow out
Manchester City survived an early scare to see off Borussia Dortmund and reach the Champions League semifinals for the first time under Pep Guardiola.
A superb strike from the outstanding Jude Bellingham saw the German side level their quarter-final tie after 15 minutes of the second leg at Signal Iduna Park.
City responded in the second half with a penalty from Riyad Mahrez and a fine effort from Phil Foden to win 2-1 on the night and progress 4-2 on aggregate.
The result ended City’s run of quarter-final frustration having gone out at the last-eight stage in each of the previous three years.
Dortmund, who were aggrieved to have a goal disallowed in the first leg, felt the penalty award for handball against Emre Can was harsh but City, who also hit the woodwork through Kevin De Bruyne, were dominant overall.
Guardiola’s side also did well to keep the highlyrated Erling Haaland quiet although, in England international Bellingham, the hosts certainly possessed another tricky youngster.
The 17-year-old opened the scoring in 15 minutes, clipping a shot into the top corner to give Dortmund the edge on the away goals rule.
De Bruyne rattled the crossbar but, despite sustained pressure, City went in at half-time behind.
City finally regained control of the tie 10 minutes into the second half after Can was penalised for handball.
The former Liverpool midfielder argued that he had headed the ball onto his arm but the spot-kick award stood after a lengthy VAR review and Mahrez made no mistake.
Dortmund did not give up and Mats Hummels headed narrowly over but the decisive goal came after
a corner was taken short and worked to Foden on the edge of the area.
The 20-year-old took aim and struck a sweet shot which rebounded past Hitz off the inside of the near post.
That did the job for the Premier League leaders, who now face Paris St Germain over two legs for a place in the final.
● Liverpool bowed out with a whimper having failed to properly test Real Madrid in a goalless draw at Anfield last night.
Jurgen Klopp’s side paid the price for a disastrous 45 minutes in the Spanish capital last week as that 3-1 quarter-final first-leg defeat essentially ended their hopes.
They created enough chances to have clawed back the two-goal deficit but goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was hardly extended as yet another wasteful performance from their forwards proved costly with 15 attempts producing just four on target.
But this was a controlled, disciplined performance from the 13-time European champions who knew exactly what was required to get the job done and book a place in the semis against Chelsea.
The drama had started before the game as supporters lined Anfield Road and a small minority resorted to throwing objects at Real’s coach. One window was smashed, an act Liverpool condemned as “unacceptable and shameful” and apologised for any distress.
It was reminiscent of the 2018 Champions League quarter-final when Manchester City’s bus was attacked with bottles and stones.