Thursday, 16 March 2017

Man City Crash Out of The Uefa Champions League As Atletico Goes Through

Man city crashed out of the Uefa Champions league after a 1 - 3 lose at the Stade Louis II.

City made four changes from the side that beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at the weekend with Aleksandar Kolarov, Willy CaballeroFernandinho and Bacary Sagna all recalled to the starting XI. While Monaco was without top striker Radamel Falcao leaving Kylian Mbappe as Monaco's main man up front.

The hosts should have gone ahead five minutes when Kylian Mbappe raced clear only to be denied by a good Caballero save.

Within two minutes, however, Monaco had their lead as Benjamin Mendy jinked his way into the box and with plenty of time to pick his pass he played it across goal for Mbappe to score from close range.

The Blues task became harder still just before the half-hour mark as Monaco again raided down the left flank with the dangerous Mendy who fired a pinpoint cross for Fabinho to drill home from 10 yards.

With no shots on target and not so much as a sniff of a threat, City went in at the break with their Champions League destiny hanging by a thread.

The Blues came out for the second half and finally started to look more like the team that had slugged it out with Monaco in the first leg.

After dominating the early passages of play, Kevin De Bruyne threaded a ball through to Raheem Sterling but faced with the keeper at an angle he tried to set up the hard-working Sergio Aguero and the danger was cleared.

Minutes later David Silva was sent clear by Fernandinho and after holding the ball up, he played in Aguero who was denied by Subasic – surely the vital away goal had to come before long?

Then Leroy Sane waltzed into the box but went for goal instead of squaring the pass to Aguero and the chance again went begging.

 Finally, City’s dominance was rewarded as Sane again broke clear and this time he made no mistake, thumping the ball high into the roof of the net firmly past Caballero from a free-kick and suddenly, the hosts were in the box-seat.

Monaco, who had looked dead on their feet, found their second wind and the tie again started to ebb away from the Blues.
City tried to find a second goal, but the timing of the hosts' third and the earlier missed chances meant Monaco comfortably saw out the minutes that remained.

Atletico Madrid in the other game could only manage a draw against a resolute Bayer Leverkusen team

Leading 4-2 from the first leg, the Spanish side were largely unflustered as they held the German side at bay.
However, home keeper Jan Oblak did make two superb saves in quick succession to deny Julian Brandt and Kevin Volland.
Bayer keeper Bernd Leno produced two excellent stops of his own to tip away Angel Correa and Koke shots.
Last season's runners-up Atletico are the third Spanish side through to the quarter-finals, along with Barcelona and holders Real Madrid.
They are joined by Monaco, who beat Manchester City on Wednesday, with German duo Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and English champions Leicester completing the draw, which takes place on Friday
Teams through to the Quaterfinals
Atletico MadridBarcelona
Bayern MunichBorussia Dortmund
JuventusLeicester City
MonacoReal Madrid



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