Here’s what happened on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League, in case you missed it…
READ ALL ABOUT IT
• Manchester City 4, Tottenham 3: Game story || Game stats
• FC Porto 1, Liverpool 1: Game story || Game stats
THE MAIN STORY
A match for the ages: One of the greatest games in the modern era of European club soccer unfolded on Wednesday night, with Manchester City earning a 4-3 win, but Tottenham advancing to the Champions League semifinals on the away goals rule after the series ended 4-4 on aggregate.
A breathless opening 11 minutes that produced four goals was simply the appetizer. The main course came in a thrill-a-minute second half when City, led by a man-of-the-match effort from Kevin De Bruyne, battled back from two goals down to take the aggregate lead. City’s quest for the quadruple seemed to still be on until substitute Fernando Llorente bundled home a goal for Spurs in the 73rd minute. Time stood still for several minutes as the referee watched the replay after consulting with VAR before ultimately allowing the Spaniard’s goal to stand, even though there was some question as to whether he deflected the ball in off his hand or hip.
There was more drama to come, this time deep into injury time, when Raheem Sterling appeared to have completed his hat trick off a pass from Sergio Aguero to give Man City the aggregate lead. But VAR determined that Aguero was offside when he made the decisive pass to Sterling, and a jubilant Etihad Stadium quickly turned stone silent when the goal was disallowed.
This was 90 minutes of pure entertainment, pure adrenaline rush, pure thrills – as brilliant an advertisement for the greatest sport of them all as you’d ever hope to see.
BEST GOAL
Lots of chose from, but the opener from the Man City-Spurs thriller was the pick of the litter. Kevin De Bruyne cut across the middle and fed a pass to Raheem Sterling. The Englishman cut inside of his defensive marker on the edge of the box and curled a gorgeous shot beyond a diving Hugo Lloris and into the bottom corner.
BEST MOMENT
The usually reserved Mauricio Pochettino lost it shortly after the final whistle.
BEST TWEET
Even FC Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was entertained.
BURNING QUESTION
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THE GAME WITHIN THE GAME
SIX PACK OF STATS
• Sterling’s strike at three minutes 51 seconds is Manchester City’s earliest ever Champions League goal.
• Only Steven Gerrard has scored more goals (21) for Liverpool in European Cup/Champions League than Sadio Mane (14, tied with Ian Rush and Mohamed Salah).
• The four goals in the first 11 minutes of Manchester City vs. Tottenham were the fastest four goals ever scored in a Champions League match.
• Porto’s goal against Liverpool means that Manchester United is the only team to have failed to score in either leg of this season’s Champions League quarterfinals.
• De Bruyne is the first player to collect at least three assists in a Champions league quarterfinal match since Ryan Giggs with Manchester United vs. AS Roma in 2007.
• Divock Origi made his first Champions League start for Liverpool on Wednesday. He had not played more than 17 minutes in any of his previous four appearances in the competition.
Stats courtesy of Opta
THREE STARS
1) Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City: The Belgian was simply magnificent on the night, collecting assists on three of Man City’s four goals.
2) Raheem Sterling (Man City) and Son Heung-Min (Spurs): Both bagged braces, and led the devastating attacks for their teams.
3) Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool: The dynamic duo each scored and tallied an assist as the Reds romped to victory.
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