How hard it is to pass after a Liverpool-Real (2-5) as stunning as it is spectacular. The last two matches of the knockout stages of the Champions League have struggled to suffer the comparison of the remake of the 2022 Champions League final. In a match that he left behind, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City settled for a draw (1-1) on the field of Leipzig. The English will perhaps regret it, so much victory was reaching out to them.
In a controlled meeting in the first period, City, however deprived of Kevin De Bruyne and Aymeric Laporte, relied on Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian international, a native of Sarcelles (Val-d’Oise), has unblocked the situation on a caviar from Grealish.
It is his 3rd goal in the Champions League since the start of the season and the… 20th of his career in this competition. A goal largely due to the big defensive error of Schlager, who lost a ball on an ill-adjusted pass. We then play the 27th minute and the hopes of exploit of the players of Leipzig are already moving away. Not definitively because the Germans decide to reverse the table. And they took it well since on a corner, the Croatian Josko Gvardiol jumps higher than everyone else to equalize (1-1, 70th).
A goal, four minutes after the entry of Christopher Nkunku, which finally wraps up a meeting which was a tad boring until then. The two teams separate in a logical draw. Everything will be decided when they return to England on March 14.
In Italy, FC Porto, reduced to ten after the expulsion of Otavio (78th), lasted 86 minutes before cracking a header from Romelu Lukaku. After this light meal, the gourmets of the Champions League meet on March 7 with Chelsea – Dortmund and Benfica – Bruges, as an aperitif before the Bayern – PSG feast the next day.
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