It was a massive night in the Champions League on Wednesday evening as two heavyweights on the continent went head to head. Real Madrid hosted Manchester City at the Bernabeu, and the match didn’t disappoint. Pep Guardiola opted to shock many of the experts by leaving out Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero, but they still managed to get the win that they needed to take back to Manchester.
Zinedine Zidane would have been disappointed with his side as they let a 1-0 lead slip inside the final 20 minutes to give all the cards to Manchester City ahead of the second leg back at the Etihad in a couple of weeks.
Manchester City Celebrate Big Win
Much of the talk in the build-up to the match was centred around the European ban that is hanging over the Citizens. They could be banned from the competition for the next two seasons, which means success this season could be their last chance under Guardiola. The English side were handed a setback in the first half when Aymeric Laporte was forced off through injury. The Frenchman has only recently returned from a period on the sidelines.
Things got even worse for the Citizens when they lost the ball in their own half. Karim Benzema kept his cool, before then teeing up Isco to put the ball past Ederson in the Manchester City goal. However, the Citizens came roaring back and were level with 12 minutes remaining after Gabriel Jesus found the net following good work from Sterling.
Late Winner Changes Complexity
There was still more drama to come as City wrapped up the biggest win in their European history from the penalty spot after Sterling was brought down by Dani Carvajal. Kevin De Bruyne made no mistake from the spot as he sent Thibaut Courtois the wrong way. Sergio Ramos was sent off with four minutes remaining, as he saw red from the 26th time in his career.
Manchester City will now head back to the Etihad in a few weeks time knowing that they are on the brink of qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Real Madrid have a lot of work to do, but this tie still has a long way to go.
Shock In France
The game in Spain wasn’t the only one taking place last night as Ligue 1 side Lyon, welcome Juventus to France for their first leg. There was a shock result on the night as Lyon claimed the advantage after a Lucas Tousart goal after 30 minutes. The Old Lady was shocked, and there will be immense pressure on them, and Maurizio Sarri to turn the game on its head in the second leg.
Juventus were disappointing throughout the game, and couldn’t even muster a single shot on target in the game. The Italian side enjoyed the lion share of the possession, but they couldn’t get Cristiano Ronaldo into the dangerous areas where he could hurt Lyon. Juventus will still feel that they have the quality to get through in this tie, however.
