The first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 ended in favor of Manchester City, Guardiola and his troops gave their all in the game and it did surely payout. Man City was handed a two years ban from participating in the UEFA Champions League are doing everything possible to win the trophy this season.
The first half of the game ended in a goalless draw but the remaining 45 minutes of the game was one with much impact. The home team was the first to find the back of the net to go up front, Spanish international Isco opened the scoring in the 60th minute of the game. The response came from Brazilian attacker Gabriel Jesus in the 78 minute of the game through Kevin De Bruyne pass.
The victory came from the penalty box after Kevin De Bruyne scored from the penalty spot, it was their first in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. Man City are surely doing all they can to win the league this time around since they won’t be in the tournament in the next two seasons. An away 2-1 win is enough for the Citizens as they await to defend their victory in the return leg which will be in their Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola commenting after the game said: “to win at the Bernabeu is a great satisfaction for us,” “It is amazing to be able to win here for us because we are not used to doing these things. “We hope it will help us in the future to believe in ourselves and to be able to go to any stadium and play the way we did against Real.” Man City was able to overcome the mockery they received on arrival to beat the mighty Madrid.
Manchester City has only won three teams in their away campaign in the Champions League and they are Dynamo Kiev, Basel and Schalke 04. They are hoping to win the Champions League for the first time, having progressed as far as the semi-finals and that is if they can the return leg.
Real Madrid who are the most successful side in the competition through history will be playing without their skipper in the return leg. The skipper Sergio Ramos received a straight red card in the game and so will have to miss three games which comes up March 17th. Man City might be without Aymeric Laporte who sustained an injury in the Real Madrid vs Man City game.
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