Barcelona: Atletico Madrid beat Juventus 2-0 to take control of their Champions League last 16 tie on Wednesday, while 10-man Manchester City came from behind to beat Schalke 04 3-2 in Germany.
Centre-backs Jose Maria Gimenez and Diego Godin scored both Atletico’s goals from set pieces in the space of five second half minutes to earn Diego Simeone’s side a deserved victory at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Man City striker Sergio Aguero sent his side ahead but two penalties from Schalke’s Nabil Bentaleb turned the game on its head at the Veltins Arena. However after Nicolas Otamendi was sent off early in the second halfCity came from behind to earn a stunning victory. Leroy Sane’s special free-kick against his former side levelled the score with five minutes remaining, before Raheem Sterling tucked away a late winner after reaching a long kick by goalkeeper Ederson.
A spiky clash in Madrid, where the final will be held on June 1, saw Atletico striker Diego Costa booked inside the first eight minutes and suspended for the second leg.
The enterprising forward was in the thick of the action in the first half, giving two-time winners Juventus a torrid time. At the other end, Jan Oblak tipped away a Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick,with the Portuguese striker facing his former rivals when he played across town at Real Madrid. Costa thought he had won a penalty when he was brought down by Mattia De Sciglio but after consultation with VAR, it was downgraded to a free-kick.
The former Chelsea striker was a battering ram but wasted the best chance of the night, firing wide when through on goal early in the second half.
Antoine Griezmann nearly broke the deadlock but saw his lob tipped onto the bar by Wojciech Szczesny. Atletico were on top in the second half and their pressure eventually told.
Substitute Alvaro Morata had a goal harshly ruled out by VAR for a push on defender Giorgio Chiellini, but Gimenez sent Atletico ahead shortly afterwards. The Uruguayan defender reacted quickest to stab home in the 78th minute after a scramble in the box from a corner.
Then Godin’s effort deflected into the net against Ronaldo to earn the Rojiblancos a huge first leg victory.
“Games with so much tension are decided with small details and today it was dead balls,” said Atletico captain Godin. “The result is fantastic, we scored two and they didn’t score, but the second leg is still to come. The atmosphere was impressive,spectacular.”
In Gelsenkirchen it seemed like it was going to be an easy night for Manchester City, with Schalke struggling this season, languishing 14th in the Bundesliga. It started that way, when a grievous defensive error handed City the lead. David Silva stole the ball from Salif Sane on the edge his own box and squared for Aguero to hammer home in the 18th minute.
City appeared in complete control but Schalke equalised from the penalty spot in the 38th minute, with midfielder Bentaleb sending Ederson the wrong way.
After a long referral to VAR, the spot kick was eventually awarded, for a handball by Nicolas Otamendi blocking Daniel Caligiuri’s shot.
In the 45th minute, the Bundesliga side were awarded another penalty after Fernandinho pulled back Salif Sane and was booked, meaning he is also banned for the return. Algerian international Bentaleb blasted home from the spot, this time going for the opposite side of the goal.
Manchester City found it hard to break down Schalke’s defence after the break and matters worsened for Pep Guardiola’s side when Otamendi was given a second yellow card for a foul on Caligiuri and dismissed.
Guardiola brought on winger Leroy Sane to run at his former side in the final 15 minutes and the German winger produced a brilliant free-kick to level the scores. Then Sterling reached a long punt from goalkeeper Ederson and held his nerve to slot home in the 90th minute to complete City’scome back.
“I was a little bit upset for Schalke, especially for the fans, the atmosphere was amazing, said Leroy Sane, who played there between 2014 and 2016.
“In the end we did it, we scored three goals away, that’s the most important thing, to score goals away.
“I think you can see that we never give up, we always want to keep going, keep fighting, we know the quality we have in the team. I don’t think this was our best game, but we scored our goals.”
The second legs take place on March 12. — dpa
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