Manchester City and Real Madrid qualified this Wednesday March 6 for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, eliminating FC Copenhagen and RB Leipzig respectively.
Published on: 06/03/2024 – 23:12
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Easy for City, title holders, but laborious for Real. This is what we can remember from this Champions League evening, which saw the “Merengues” and the “Cityzens” heading towards the quarter-finals.
Manchester City will therefore be in the quarterfinals of the C1 for the seventh consecutive year, after their victory at home against Copenhagen 3-1 (as in the eighth leg in Denmark).
Eight wins in eight matches for Manchester City
The English quickly confirmed their advantage thanks to Manuel Akanji (5th), imitated by Julian Alvarez (9th) and the inevitable Erling Haaland (45+3), Mohamed Elyounoussi reducing the score (29th). Pep Guardiola had rested Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, ahead of next Sunday’s clash at Anfield against Liverpool, Premier League leader with one point ahead of City.
Manchester City, with stars rested, therefore outperformed Copenhagen. The English now have eight victories in eight European matches this season, with three goals scored each time! Coach Pep Guardiola has only failed once at the gates of the Top 8 since his arrival in the north of England, during his first season in 2016-2017, a problem that has since been permanently erased.
For Real Madrid, it was a narrow qualification after a meeting without much inspiration and shaken up by the Leipzig players after this draw (1-1). In the first leg, Carlo Ancelotti’s men won 1-0. Real Madrid were put under serious pressure by a courageous Leipzig, fifth in the Bundesliga. The Madrilenians, in search of a fifteenth trophy in the competition, opened the scoring with Vinicius Jr (65th) and Leipzig equalized through Willi Orban (68th), at the Santiago-Bernabeu stadium.
The draw for the quarter-finals (first legs on April 9-10, returns on April 16-17) and semi-finals (April 30-May 1 and May 7-8) will take place on Friday March 15 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon in Switzerland.
