Manchester City and Inter Milan advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday evening. Clinging to Leipzig in the first leg (1-1), Erling Haaland, author of a quintuplet (!), and his teammates unrolled in front of their audience (7-0). Winners at home (1-0), the Italians provided the essentials (0-0) in Porto.
Manchester City still dreams of finally winning the Champions League. The English club, carried by Haaland author of five goals, qualified for the quarter-finals by crushing RB Leipzig 7-0. The Citizens, who had been hooked 1-1 in the first leg, this time largely took the measure of their German opponents. But it took a very generous penalty for Haaland to open the scoring (22nd).
The Norwegian striker, weaned from goals in C1 since October, would then go wild and add four more successes (24th / 45th / 53rd / 57th) before leaving in the 62nd, mission more than accomplished. The blond giant really did what he wanted in the middle of a totally overwhelmed German defense.
With Akanji
Manuel Akanji was a central hinge holder for the English champions. The Swiss defender was involved in the second and the fifth goal of his team. Besides Haaland, Gündogan (49th) and De Bruyne (92nd) also scored.
After investing hundreds of millions of pounds in its workforce and its staff, the owners of Manchester City absolutely want to win the trophy that is missing from the club’s list. But as the example of Paris Saint-Germain has also shown for years, money is not necessarily everything. Even if there is no shortage of talent within the Citizens, both on the pitch and in the coaching staff led by Catalan technician Pep Guardiola. Will 2023 be the year of European consecration for Mancunians?
Inter also passes
Thanks to a top-notch defensive performance, Inter Milan also made it to the next round. Victorious 1-0 at home, the Nerazzurri held the shock on the return to Porto (0-0) in a much less prolific meeting. Unlucky, the Portuguese shot twice on the uprights in stoppage time by Taremi (95th) and Grujic (96th)…
The Italians thus secured their qualification in the same way as their rivals AC Milan once morest Tottenham. The two Lombard clubs might be in the quarter-finals, since the draw (Friday March 17) will be completely open.