City eliminates Real from Champions League

Scorers Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus took advantage of two dreadful errors by Real centre-back Raphael Varane to give Pep Guardiola’s side the win. Having beaten the 13-time European champion home and away, City will now head to Lisbon for the ‘final eight’ knockout tournament, where it will face Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) on August 15.

Real, trailing 1-2 from the first leg, was without suspended skipper and defensive lynchpin Sergio Ramos at the Etihad Stadium and it showed, with the Spanish team looking shaky at the back throughout. City was confident and focused, avoiding the kind of defensive lapses that cost it in the knockout stage in previous campaigns.

Real’s frailty at the back was exposed as it made a disastrous start, gifting City a ninth-minute opener. French international Varane, having received a pass inside his own area from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, was robbed by Jesus. The striker slipped the ball to Sterling, who slotted home his 100th goal for the club.

There was a strong response from the La Liga champion, with City goalkeeper Ederson forced into fine saves from Karim Benzema and Eden Hazard. Ederson could do nothing, however, to stop a bullet header from Benzema in the 28th minute as the Frenchman rose to power home a superb pin-point cross from Rodrygo.

Real’s defensive uncertainty was highlighted again three minutes before the interval. Courtois cleared the ball straight to Kevin De Bruyne, who quickly fed Phil Foden, although the youngster’s shot flashed just wide. City created plenty more chances after the break but lacked the killer touch and it took another piece of calamitous defending by Varane to decide the tie in the 68th minute. Having initially failed to head clear a long ball, Varane’s attempted header back to Courtois was too weak and Jesus was alert again. The Brazilian nipped in to flick the ball past the Belgian custodian and make the score 2-1 on the night.

Ronaldo shines, but Juventus loses

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace, including an unstoppable long-range goal, to give Juventus a 2-1 win over Lyon in CL on Friday, but it was not enough as the French side reached the quarter-finals on away goals.

After both teams converted contentious penalties in the first half, talisman Ronaldo struck from out of the blue on the hour and gave the home side hope. However, Lyon clung on for a 2-2 aggregate draw.

RESULTS (AGGREGATE SCORES): Manchester City 2 beat Real Madrid 1 (City won 4-2); Juventus 2 beat Lyon 1 (Tie drawn 2-2, but Lyon through on away goals).