UEFA Champions League
De Bruyne gives Man City slender lead over Atletico in Champions League
Pep Guardiola praised Manchester City’s patience after Kevin De Bruyne broke Atletico Madrid’s stubborn resistence to clinch a 1-0 win in Tuesday’s (April 5) Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Guardiola’s side spent much of the night banging their heads against the red and white wall of Atletico’s massed defence at the Etihad Stadium.
But Guardiola sent on Phil Foden midway through the second half and his sublime pass teed up De Bruyne to finally reward City for their territorial dominance.
“I didn’t expect to win three or four nil. I knew who we were facing. They have been together for many years,” Guardiola said.
“They defend so well, so compact and so deep. We were patient. You have to be against these teams. They want you to be anxious.
“It’s a good result. Unfortunately, we had a couple more chances with Kevin to score again.”
While Guardiola launched a water bottle in a frenzied celebration that underlined what a testing night it had been for his team, the City boss knows the tie is far from over.
“Even a 1-0 lead going to Madrid is tough,” Guardiola said.
“We have to control our emotions. It will be a good test for us, our maturity. We will try to score and win the game.”
At the start of a season-defining 11 days for treble-chasing City, this was a qualified success that justified their patient performance.
But Atletico have already knocked out Manchester United in the last 16 this season, while Liverpool fell victim to Diego Simeone’s side when the Reds were the holders in 2019-20.
The Spanish champions will believe they can cause another surprise in the second leg in Madrid on April 13.
“It’s clear we were playing against an extraordinary opponent. We have to use a great way of defending and without being embarrassed,” Simeone said.
“We need to be better, see if we can have the ball a bit more in the second leg. Perhaps we can create more difficulties. We are still in the tie.”
City have no margin for error over the next two weeks as the Premier League leaders host Liverpool, just a point behind them in the title race, on Sunday.
They head to Madrid next week before facing Liverpool again in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley three days later.
‘Special quality’
Guardiola has often been criticised for his curious team selections in previous Champions League knockout stage defeats with City.
However, Guardiola’s game-changing decision to introduce Foden should silence a few critics after it turned a difficult evening into a vital victory.
“When the game was a little bit flat, we knew we could change it with the substitutes,” Guardiola said.
“Phil has a special quality.He had the composure to make an incredible assist and Kevin is in the best moment of his season.” As ever, City monopolised possession, yet they often found themselves shuffling passes across midfield before Atletico shut the door on them.
Simeone’s famously pragmatic approach presented a stark contrast to the purist principles espoused by Guardiola.
Gradually, City rose to the challenge and Ilkay Gundogan went close with a curling shot that deflected wide off Stefan Savic soon after the interval.
De Bruyne’s free-kick finally forced Jan Oblak’s first save, while Raheem Sterling dragged his effort well wide from a dangerous position moments later.
When Aymeric Laporte headed wastefully over from Riyad Mahrez’s corner, Guardiola had seen enough and he sent on Foden, Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus.
Foden’s arrival was an inspired move as the England forward played a key role when City at last broke through in the 70th minute.
Taking possession outside the Atletico area, Foden shimmied away from two defenders and slipped a precise pass to De Bruyne, who timed his run perfectly to drill a low strike into the far corner from a tight angle.
-AFP
UEFA Champions League
Nigeria’s Victor Olatunji becomes third African scoring debutant in Uefa Champions League
Nigeria’s Victor Olatunji was not just the hero for his side, Sparta Prague, in Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat of Salzburg in their opening game of the UEFA Champions League, he has edged himself into the competition’s record books.
According to Opta, Olatunji’s goal made him the third African player to score and assist on Champions League debut.
Before him were Gabon’s Daniel Cousin in 2007 (for Rangers in the match with Lyon) and Cote d’Ivoire’s Serge Aurier in 2015 (for PSG in the duel with Shakhtar Donetsk).
Olatunji scored one and produced a master-piece assist that led to the third goal for Sparta Prague on Wednesday night.
Reigning Czech Republic champions Sparta Prague kicked off their UEFA Champions League campaign with a game against Salzburg at the Epet Arena in Prague.
Olatunji, who has been the main man for Sparta Prague since last season, got a starting shirt in the striker position- his debut in the Champions League.
The Czech side had a dream start as they took the lead just a minute into the game courtesy of Kaan Kairinen. After conceding, Salzburg started to dominate the game, but they failed to make any clear-cut opportunity.
Sparta Prague were better coordinated and held their lines better. They eventually got their second, and it was courtesy of Nigeria striker Olatunji. A long ball was played from Sparta Prague’s defence, Olatunji got to it, and he took a one-time shot to send the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Then, in the second half, Olatunji supplied the assist for Qazim Laci for Sparta Prague’s third. In his 58 minutes of action, the 25-year-old striker registered two goal attempts, 14 touches, and won four of his seven duels. The game eventually ended 3-0 in Sparta Prague’s favour.
In the other matches of the night, Manchester City were held to a goalless draw by Inter Milan while PSG managed a lone goal win over Girona in Paris and Club Brugge lost 0-3 at home to last year’s losing finalist, Borussia Dortmund.
Celtic FC had a goal feast at home with a 5-1 demolition of visiting Slovan Bratislava and Bologna and Shakhtar Donestsk settled for a goalles draw. Action resumes tonight with FC Bacerlona and Arsenal away in Monaco and Atalanta respectively.
RESULTS
- Bologna 0-0 Shakhtar
- Sparta 3-0 Salzburg
- Celtic 5-1 Brastilava
- Brugge 0-3 Dortmund
- Man City 0-0 Inter
- PSG 1-0 Girona
THURSDAY’S FIXTURES
- Feyenoord Vs Leverkusen
- Zvezda Vs Benfica
- Atalanta Vs Arsenal
- Brest Vs Graz
- Atletico Vs Leipzig
- Monaco Vs Barca
Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane scored four goals to lead his side to a 9-2 demolition of visitors Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday and a record for the most goals by one team in a Champions League match after a scintillating performance.
Bayern struck three times in the first half with Kane converting a 19th minute penalty before becoming the highest scoring English player in European Cup history with 33 goals, breaking Wayne Rooney’s mark of 30.
Kane, who scored three goals against Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga on Saturday, also became the first player to score a hat-trick of penalties in a European Cup match.
The game had the second-biggest winning margin in Champions League history, with Liverpool and Real Madrid holding the record with 8-0 wins.
Borussia Dortmund’s 8-4 win over Legia Warsaw in 2016 is the record for most goals overall in a Champions League match.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever had three penalties in one game,” said Kane. “It was a different feeling for me, but to score four goals is fantastic.”
“To help the team in any way possible is important. Whether they’re penalties or normal finishes I’ll take them all. It was a great night for us.”
DETERMINED BAYERN
Bayern are eager to bounce back after failing to win any domestic or international silverware last season.
“Everyone has a point to prove here and we’ve started the season that way,” Kane said. “The way the coach wants us to press and be intense with and without the ball is important. We know we can dominate teams with the quality we have.”
With Zagreb completely boxed in, Raphael Guerreiro, who had earlier put the ball in the net only to be ruled offside, drilled home from a superb Jamal Musiala assist in the 33rd and Michael Olise added another five minutes later.
The Croats briefly recovered by making the most of some sloppy defending with goals from Bruno Petkovic in the 49th and Takuya Ogiwara a minute later to give themselves some hope.
It was, however, short-lived with Bayern, who hope to reach this season’s final to be played in Munich, upping the tempo instantly and scoring two more in a four-minute span through Kane and Olise to restore order.
In coach Vincent Kompany’s Champions League debut on the bench, England captain Kane bagged his third and fourth goals with penalties in the 73rd and 78th.
Thomas Mueller also set a record with his 152nd Champions League appearance for Bayern, breaking Xavi’s mark at Barcelona for the most matches in the competition with one club.
Substitutes Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka also got on the scoresheet with late goals as Bayern opened their Champions League campaign in devastating fashion.
-Reuters
UEFA Champions League
Real Madrid to play Liverpool, Milan and Dortmund in revamped Champions League
Reigning champions Real Madrid will play Borussia Dortmund in the league phase of the Champions League in what will be a repeat of last season’s final after the draw for the new-look 36-team tournament was held on Thursday.
Clubs will no longer playing three teams home and away in the group phase, but will face eight different teams with four games at home and four away which were picked with the help of a computer.
With clubs facing two teams each from the four pots, the draw threw up plenty of mouth-watering fixtures with Real also set to play former champions Liverpool and AC Milan in the league phase.
Premier League champions Manchester City will face Inter Milan — a repeat of the 2023 final — Paris St Germain and Juventus while Bayern Munich are up against PSG and Barcelona among others.
Apart from Real, Liverpool also take on RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.
New Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has his hands full with the Spanish team set to face the two German giants — his former club Bayern Munich and Dortmund.
The draw was conducted with the help of the competition’s all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who were both given special awards by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
-Reuters
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