Manchester, March 7 (IANS) Defending champions Manchester City eased into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for a seventh successive season after comfortably beating FC Copenhagen 3-1 at Etihad Stadium.
Wednesday night’s victory saw Pep Guardiola’s defending European champions complete a 6-2 aggregate success after a 3-1 win in the Danish capital last month.
City have won their last 10 matches in the Champions League, becoming the first English side to achieve that figure.
It didn’t take long for City to extend the aggregate lead they earned in Denmark three weeks ago, with centre-back Manuel Akanji meeting Julian Alvarez’s corner with an accurate volley into the top corner after just five minutes.
Alvarez was then among the goals himself, with a curling strike from outside the box squirming beyond Copenhagen goalkeeper Kamil Grabara’s grasp and into the net.
The visitors did have something to cheer close to the half-hour mark, when Mohamed Elyounoussi ran onto a wonderful Orri Oskarsson back-heel and steered home to offer his team a glimmer of hope.
Copenhagen had done well to shackle the ever-dangerous Erling Haaland in the first period, but just before the break the Norwegian forward pounced with a powerful low finish to record his sixth goal of this season’s tournament.
The second half was something of a procession for City, although goalkeeper Ederson had to be alert to make a sharp save to deny substitute Magnus Mattsson.
In other action, Real Madrid drew against Leipzig with a goal from Vini Jr. and progress courtesy of their first leg win and capitalised on a 0-1 first leg scoreline to book their place in the quarter-finals.
The 14-time winners Real Madrid were pushed all the way by Leipzig in a nerve-wracking round of 16 second-leg draw.
The game got off to a pulsating and hard-fought start. The first chance fell to Ancelotti’s men when Tchouameni ‘s cross was flicked over by Vini Jr. with his shoulder (12 mins).
Leipzig responded immediately with a couple of lightning-quick counter-attacks, but Openda was unable to find the target on either occasion.
Madrid patiently built-up play, but the Germans left no gaps in defense and tried to punish the hosts with their speedy transitions. Marco Rose’s side came close to opening the scoring on two occasions before the break.
The game picked up in the second half and Madrid began to penetrate the opposition’s box more often. In the 63rd minute, Carvajal played a neat through ball to Rodrygo , whose shot was blocked by Gulácsi.
But with the next move, Real Madrid made no mistake. Kroos broke up play as Leipzig were on the attack and the German fed Bellingham, who drove the length of the pitch before slipping in Vini. Jr. and the Brazilian scored with an emphatic first-time finish (65′).
–IANS
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