RevSportz Comment
Though there were eight ties played across two nights, involving some of the grandees of European football like AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Benfica, all eyes were on the Etihad in Manchester where Pep Guardiola’s suddenly mortal Manchester City took on Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid.
Such matches rarely live up to the hype, but this burgeoning rivalry – this was the fifth time their paths had crossed in six seasons – seems an exception. Guardiola, of course, has history with Real, having been both player and coach for Barcelona. Ancelotti, meanwhile, has won the trophy thrice with Real, to add to the two he clinched while with Milan. With two of the great football minds on the sidelines and a star cast on the pitch, there was no disappointment, as Real ran out 3-2 winners with the latest of late shows.
City, whose bid for a fifth consecutive English Premier League title ran aground months ago, were much improved compared to recent displays, but such is the wealth of attacking talent that Ancelotti can call on that the last-second heist and resulting deflation didn’t feel unexpected.
Real were lucky too, with Mbappe’s equaliser looping off his shin to flummox Ederson. The second and third goals could both be attributed to errors from City’s goalkeeper, whose regression from once-lofty standards has been so central to their decline. But Real made their own luck as well, with Jude Bellingham displaying incredible athleticism to apply the finishing touch in the dying seconds.
City are slowly getting their A-listers back to full fitness and with Real facing a full-blown defensive crisis – Aurilien Tchouameni has spent much of the season as a centre-back instead of in defensive midfield – this tie is far from over. But given how they always seem to find an extra gear in Europe, it’s hard to look beyond Real and a potential date with either Atletico, their city rivals, or Bayer Leverkusen.
One team pretty much guaranteed a last-16 place, and a tie against either Liverpool or Barcelona, is Paris Saint-Germain, who swept aside Brest 3-0 away from home. Ousmane Dembele can’t stop scoring, and after all the years of hoping stardust would win them the ultimate prize, going back to basics with Luis Enrique seems to have done the trick for the Parisians.
Bayern will also fancy their chances after leaving the bearpit that is Celtic Park with a 2-1 win. Daezen Maeda’s late strike raised expectations of a famous home comeback, but Vincent Kompany’s Bayern held on. Milan and Atalanta, two of the Italian sides in the fray, both lost narrowly in the Low Countries, but will be hopeful of turning things around at home.
Atalanta, the defending Europa League champions, lost to a stoppage-time penalty in Bruges, while Milan were undone by an early Feyenoord goal. Juventus beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 with a late Samuel Mbangula strike but face a tricky second leg against Peter Bosz’s side, the only team to topple Liverpool in Europe this season.
Borussia Dortmund, beaten finalists last season, are also pretty much through after destroying Sporting 3-0 in Lisbon in the first leg. Sporting’s season has sunk like a stone since Ruben Amorim left, though the same could be said of their former coach too at Manchester United.
With the second legs to be played next week, all attention will be on the Bernabeu for the next instalment of Guardiola versus Ancelotti. If previous meetings, including this week’s, are any guide, it could be a classic.