There were Pep Guardiola courageous and unusual approaches and team selections. There was Gabriel Jesus on the left wing ahead of his equalising header’s performance. And there was also the cameo in Raheem Sterling, who won the match-winning penalty. But Manchester City triumph in the Bernabeu owed to the brilliance of Kevin De Bruyne.
He crafted City’s initial with his clipped cross and, even after lots of his own team-mates had failed in the place in recent months he took the obligation out of 12 metres to slot home the winner. They were key moments and City’s primary guy stepped up. In the same Champions League match he assisted and scored for the very first time.
He had been brilliant throughout. Fielded within an nine character that is fictitious, De Bruyne had bits than usual but when he had been on the ball he connected the play dropped into pockets of room to thread passes through for City’s runners. His passing was pristine, looking after City possession.
Calm, cool, composed – the mindset which allowed him to measure the decisive penalty also saw him talk of a task done after the game and measure his parties once the ball struck on the internet. He knows there’s a long way to go – but have a fantastic prospect of attaining the quarter-finals. Peter Smith
Rangers produced a performance reach the Europa League and to knock Braga .
Their opponents boasted an impressive record at the contest this term, being the group with 17 goals in addition to topping a team comprising Wolves.
Nevertheless, Rangers, who have now conceded just seven goals in eight Europa League away games this period shackled them. It was their solidity which helped them reach the last 16.
After the display from the 2-2 draw with St Johnstone last weekend, then Gerrard revitalised his players and this has been more like the Rangers from before the winter break.
Gerrard admitted he”would be on another one” later Rangers missed a sixth penalty in their last 10 attempts, but it was the only blemish on a memorable day for the Ibrox club. Ben Grounds
Beneath Frank Lampard, Chelsea are still aspiring to return on peak of the soccer pyramid and winning names. But there was a obvious gulf on the planet.
From the beginning, Bayern had greater ownership and the better odds, together with Willy Caballero called to stop Robert Lewandowski while Thomas Muller led an effort onto the crossbar. After the rest, Bayern kicked into top gear and oozed course. Serge Gnabry scored two objectives, with scored six times in two visits this season and clearly loves his return trips into the city.
Together with Thomas Muller also showing that he still has some gas left in the tank lewandowski proved during he’s among the greatest strikers in Europe right now and added the next. A word must also go to the Alphonso Davies, who showed off a speed and adulthood for a 19-year-old.
Yes, Chelsea had their chances, but all of them seemed to follow exactly the exact identical routine – a fizzing cross to the region which went unconverted. You struggle to recall anything distinct and despite holding strong in the first half, it required one slip to allow Gnabry and it was all downhill from there, culminating in Chelsea’s heaviest home defeat in Europe.
They now have a hill to climb at Munich, to utilize a football cliche that is grand. Chelsea will be without Jorginho and Marcos Alonso, and that knows whether Christian Pulisic and N’Golo Kante will be matched by then. What we do understand is that the game of Tuesday shows there is still a very long way to go ahead Chelsea and Europe’s elite can compete . Charlotte Marsh
The point was set to put on a show in the stadium that was graced by Diego Maradona. Nevertheless, having scored in five matches during the group stage, the talisman of Barcelona extended his run on land to six games.
There is absolutely not any contrast involving Messi and Maradona. After leaving Barcelona, Napoli was led by the latter for their two league titles, in 1987 and 1990. In addition, he helped the team win the 1989 UEFA Cup.
Messi admitted he was relishing the chance to play at Napoli’s iconic ground for a while, whilst resistance manager Gennaro Gattuso had lavished compliments on the Barcelona forward, telling colleagues:”I watch what Messi does when I play PlayStation with my son”
Gattuso’s containment job about the six-time Ballon d’Or winner was reflected from the first-half numbers – no Barcelona participant recorded a decrease death precision (75 per cent). As Napoli began to drill, brightly evading two defenders on one event prior to selflessly acting in Arturo Vidal but the belatedly found his rhythm.
While he has now scored in just two of the last eight games messi was unable to improve his 114 Champions League targets – from Eibar along with Leganes. It is. Ben Grounds