English clubs Man City and Liverpool take advantage in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals | CBC Sports

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Kevin De Bruyne scored the only goal to give Manchester City a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.

After a tight 70 minutes, City finally found their way through Atlético’s tough rearguard aided by Phil Foden’s vision. Just 79 seconds after coming off the bench, Foden slid in a fine through ball and De Bruyne raced in to fire a low shot from a tight angle.

“We knew it was going to be quite difficult to create some chances,” De Bruyne said. “The first half was tight, but we didn’t give anything away and in the second half we had a couple of chances. It was good that we took advantage of one.”

In the other first leg of the night’s quarterfinals, six-time European champions Liverpool beat Benfica 3-1.

Both City and Atlético have reached the Champions League final but have never lifted the trophy.

Atlético played their usual cautious game as coach Diego Simeone had promised.

The first half was played at a slow pace with City controlling most of the ball but, despite having all of their outfield players in the final third at times, they were unable to create space.

De Bruyne and Joao Cancelo had efforts deflected and Aymeric Laporte missed the goal with a header.

Ilkay Gundogan fired high over the top and Rodri had a shot from long range blocked before De Bruyne rejected a penalty appeal and John Stones also missed.

“It’s very difficult,” De Bruyne said. “They played almost five at the back and five in midfield, it’s very difficult to find the spaces.”

It wasn’t until the second half that the hosts tried to inject more rhythm into their game. That opened up the game a bit and Atletico almost capitalized with a couple of breaks from deep. Antoine Griezmann squandered an opening with a poor pass and Marcos Llorente meekly hit goalkeeper Ederson from another.

However, City also began to threaten more when Gundogan had an effort wide and Laporte came close with a header.

City appealed another penalty for a push by Reinildo on Sterling but they did not give it to him. That proved Sterling’s final involvement as manager Pep Guardiola brought him out in the game-changing move.

Foden, who came on alongside Jack Grealish and Gabriel Jesus, set up De Bruyne for the goal.

Foden created another chance for De Bruyne shortly after a tricky run to the baseline, but this time Atletico had enough players to block.

“The way we played was good because we didn’t give anything away,” De Bruyne said. “You have to be calm and patient, try to find the balls and the spaces because they were compact.”

Liverpool win away from home over Benfica

It just had to be Luis Diaz.

The Colombian winger was the last player Benfica supporters inside the atmospheric Estadio da Luz wanted to see rush to a through ball and produce an emphatic finish to complete a 3-1 victory for Liverpool in the first leg of the quarter-finals. Champions League final on Tuesday.

After all, Diaz was playing for Porto, Benfica’s great rival in Portugal, until he was signed by Liverpool in January. No wonder the home fans whistled at him, and even threw objects at him from the stands, as he walked away from him to celebrate his crucial third goal in the 87th minute.

Liverpool striker Luis Diaz celebrates after scoring during the team’s 3-1 victory over Benfica in Portugal on Tuesday. (Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)

It was also a brilliant goal, as Diaz ran into a deflected pass from Naby Keita that split the Benfica defence, around the goalkeeper and into the unprotected net from a tight angle.

“It had a good reception, didn’t it?” Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson said, smiling. “It was a good finish for him and a really important goal for us. It gives us a two-goal cushion, which makes the difference.”

Diaz, booed every time he touched the ball, played a big part in Liverpool’s second goal when he headed in a precise long pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold to allow Sadio Mané to score from close range in the 34th. That was based on the first Liverpool goal scored by Ibrahima Konate, the centre-back’s first for the club, on a Robertson corner kick in the 17th minute.

Benfica could easily have been further behind at half-time, but they took the game further to the six-time European champions in the second half and Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez capitalized on a Konate error to recover a goal in the 49th.

There were some tough moments for Liverpool, in one of them goalkeeper Alisson Becker was nearly stripped of Rafa Silva on the edge of his box, before Diaz’s goal ensured Jurgen Klopp’s side cruised to a fifth successive victory in all competitions.

The Reds have passed the latest test in their bid for an unprecedented quadruple trophies, with the semifinals now in sight. They have already won the English League Cup, are through to the FA Cup semi-finals and are one point behind leaders Manchester City in the Premier League.

Klopp even took the option of taking out star attackers Mane and Mohamed Salah in the 61st minute, perhaps with the league clash against City on Sunday in mind.

City will also go into that game thanks to a win in Tuesday’s other quarter-finals, 1-0 over Atletico Madrid.




Reference-www.cbc.ca

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