Manchester City maintained their pursuit of a double-treble by smoothly advancing into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a 3-1 triumph over Copenhagen.
With a 3-1 lead from the initial encounter, Pep Guardiola’s squad wasted no time in asserting dominance, securing a 1-0 lead within five minutes through Manuel Akanji’s exquisite volley. Julian Alvarez swiftly doubled the advantage.
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Despite a splendid finish from former Southampton player Mohamed Elyounoussi, momentarily boosting Copenhagen’s spirits, Erling Haaland sealed the deal for City before halftime.
The rest of the match was a breeze for City, with Ederson making a single save from Magnus Mattsson amidst an otherwise tranquil second half.
On the offensive, City struggled to breach the compact Copenhagen defense, failing to even test the goalkeeper in the latter half. Nonetheless, City had already accomplished their mission, setting up their seventh consecutive Champions League quarter-final.
Madrid squeeze into Champions League QF
Meanwhile, Vinicius Jr’s strike propelled Real Madrid into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals with a hard-fought 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig at the Bernabeu.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men, leading La Liga, lacked sharpness in attack for much of the game but managed to navigate through the tie with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
A subdued Real side failed to register a shot on target until the hour mark, but Vinicius Jr broke the deadlock on 65 minutes after a splendid setup from Jude Bellingham.
Despite Leipzig’s aspirations of causing an upset, including several missed opportunities from Lois Openda, they only managed to level the score through Willi Orban’s header shortly after Real’s goal.
Despite Leipzig’s late push, they couldn’t find the crucial goal to force extra time, allowing Real to secure their place in the quarter-finals for the 20th time in UEFA Champions League history and extend their record to 39 appearances in the European Cup quarter-finals.
