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Premier League title-chasers Manchester City and Liverpool warmed up for their top-of-the-table clash at the weekend with wins in their respective Champions League quarter-final first leg ties.
Kevin De Bruyne scored the only goal at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night to give Manchester City a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid, while six-times European champions Liverpool won 3-1 against Benfica in Portugal.
After a tight 70 minutes in Manchester, City finally found their way through the Spanish club’s tough rearguard helped by Phil Foden’s vision. Just 79 seconds after coming off the bench, Foden slid in a fine through ball and Belgium international De Bruyne raced through to fire in a low shot from a tight angle.
Both City and Atletico have reached the Champions League final but have never lifted the trophy.
“We played an incredible top side who are difficult to face, but it is a good result,” said City boss Pep Guardiola.
“We had chances to score a second and third. It is not easy to face a team with a lot of experience in this tournament. We will go there to score and try to win again.”
Goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz earned them a crucial 3-1 victory In Lisbon.
Konate opened the scoring with a close-range header from a corner and Senegal striker Mane extended Liverpool’s lead 30 minutes into what was an one-sided first half, with Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Naby Keita all passing up great scoring chances.
Five minutes after the break, 22-year-old French defender Konate completely missed a cross and allowed in-form striker Darwin Nunez to score and put Benfica, roared on by a sold-out Stadium of Light crowd, back into the game.
The hosts gained in confidence and briefly took charge but former Porto winger Diaz, who never lost a match against their bitter rivals Benfica, scored on the counter-attack after a deflected Keita through ball.
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