Manchester City won an important victory over its guest, Atletico Madrid, 1-0, and Liverpool returned with a precious victory from the Portuguese Benfica stadium 3-1, to approach the qualification for the semi-finals of the Champions League.
In the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final, Manchester City welcomed its Spanish guest, in a tactical confrontation between coaches Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone.
Belgian Kevin De Bruyne scored the game's only goal, giving Manchester City a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
De Bruyne received a floor pass from Phil Foden, and fired a powerful shot from close range into the net against Jan Oblak in the 70th minute.
😃 Finally... City did it ⚽️🥅 #UEFA Champions League |
#Manchester_City_Atletico_Madrid #UCL pic.twitter.com/FdCq3pBPlg
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) April 5, 2022
City will play the return leg in Madrid on April 13.
The English champions lost the Champions League final last year to local rivals Chelsea, and is seeking to continue the adventure in this year's edition, in search of crowning the title for the first time in the club's history.
In Lisbon, Portugal, Liverpool advanced with a double in the first half, scored by Ibrahim Konate in the 17th minute and Sadio Mane in the 34th minute.
🔴 Konate opens the scoring for Liverpool against Benfica from the header of the court # European_Champions League #Benfica_Liverpool #UCL pic.twitter.com/hozWj9C4dI
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) April 5, 2022
🔴 Liverpool takes advantage of a defensive error and Mane adds the second goal # European_Champions League #Benfica_Liverpool #UCL pic.twitter.com/8uMoVo2yxP
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) April 5, 2022
Benfica returned to the match with a goal by striker Darwin Nunez in the 49th minute.
The Portuguese club launched intense attacks in search of the equalizer, but the Colombian Luis Diaz snatched a third goal for Liverpool in the 87th minute, to give his team the opportunity to play the return leg next week in comfortable conditions.
Liverpool club seeks to repeat the achievement of 2019 and achieve the title for the fifth time in its history.