Manchester City cruised to a comfortable 3-0 home win over Bayern Munich as Romelu Lukaku was on target in Inter Milan’s 0-2 win at Benfica, boosting their chances of an all-Italian semi-final.
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Manchester City took a giant stride toward the Champions League semi-finals with an outstanding performance to overpower Bayern Munich at Etihad Stadium.
Erling Haaland was on target with his 45th goal of the season making him the highest scorer in all competitions.
Haaland is the highest scorer in all competitions in a single campaign since the Premier League began 30 years ago beating Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy.
However, Man City gave a powerful all-round team display and Bayern, under new coach Thomas Tuchel, faces a mountainous task to turn this quarter-final around in the second leg at the AllianzArena.
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Pep after the match:
“Emotionally I’m destroyed,” said Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola. “I have aged 10 more years. It was so demanding a game. It was not comfortable.
“Now I have to relax — a day off for the guys, prepare for Leicester [in the Premier League on Saturday].”
“It was an incredible result but I know a little bit what can happen in Munich,” added Guardiola, who managed Bayern Munich from 2013 until 2016, winning three league titles and two domestic doubles.
“If you don’t perform well they can score one, two, three. I know that, the players know that.
“It’s an incredible result, but we have to do our game with huge, huge personality. If we don’t do our game anything can happen.
Man City means business
Rodri scored a screamer to break the deadlock by curling a left-foot drive into the top corner after 27 minutes.
Bayern had chances of their own, especially former City forward Leroy Sane, who brought a vital save out of Ederson early in the second half.
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City kept a constant threat and extended their lead with 20 minutes left, Haaland crossing perfectly for Bernardo Silva to head home after Jack Grealish robbed possession off Dayot Upemecano.
Haaland was not to be denied and he pounced for City’s third six minutes later, getting on the end of John Stones’ headed knockdown to sweep a finish past Bayern keeper Yann Sommer.
Inter Milan advantage going into the second leg in their last eight
Inter Milan boosted their chances of an all-Italian semi-final by taking a two-goal lead in their last-eight tie with Benfica.
Scorers: Barella 51′, Lukaku (P) 82′
Inter Milan action night
Simeone Inzaghi’s side threatened early on as Edin Džeko met Nicolò Barella’s delivery into the box but failed to connect fully and sent his header wide.
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Benfica almost prospered from sloppy defending by their visitors when Rafa Silva pounced on a botched clearance from Federico Dimarco, only to fire straight at goalkeeper André Onana.
Things remained deadlocked at the break yet it was the Nerazzurri who took the lead early in the second half through a Barella header from Alessandro Bastoni’s cross from the left.
The hosts had Odysseas Vlachodimos to thank for keeping their deficit down as the goalkeeper produced a stunning stop.
As Águias hopes, however, were soon punctured by VAR awarding a penalty against João Mário for handball, which Romelu Lukaku dispatched comfortably from the spot.
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It’s still all to play for but a lifeless Benfica attack must be at its best to turn the tie around in the second leg.
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UCL Wednesday’s matches
Real Madrid v Chelsea at 10 pm
Napoli v AC Milan 10pm
