Salah returns and shutters Manchester City’s hopes

The two clubs met in the second leg of the clash where Manchester City were hopeful of not cutting down the 3-0 deficit from the first but also to turn around the tie into their favor and qualify to the next round. People were interested in finding out if Salah was going to start the match or not after picking up a groin injury in the first leg of this clash. It was a relief for the Liverpool fans when they heard that their start man was available for contention. Pep Guardiola made changes to the team that played the away leg as he introduced Raheem Sterling and Laporte back to the squad ahead of Gundogan and Kompany. The shocking omission was Aguero who was benched for Jesus in an attacking team filled with pacey forwards. The match kicked off with high expectations on both teams to produce an amazing performance.  Manchester City was off to a good start as they dispossessed Van Dijk and Sterling fed Jesus to score the first. It was 1-0 after 3 minutes and Liverpool were definitely parking. Manchester City dominated the first half and created many chances that should have hit the back of the net. Bernardo Silva hit the post once and Sane put the ball into the net but the ball was controversially ruled offside. City really felt hard done in a match that was intense and saw the referee producing about 5 yellow cards and saw Pep Guardiola being sent to the stands for his outrageous reaction at half-time. Arteta was under pressure as he was the man-in charge and Liverpool scored an equalizer through Salah after Mane’s brilliant run. The Manchester club had a mountain to climb as they needed to score 4 more goals to qualify. Aguero was introduced at the expense of David Silva but the damage was done. The match ended 2-1 to Liverpool after Firmino scored the second on the 77th minute which means that Liverpool are through to the semifinals with a 5-1 aggregate score. The Egyptian has once again made the difference in a big match as he scored a killer blow. It has been a while since Africa had a player that would contend for the Ballon d’Or. Mo Salah is a contender this year. What’s your take?

In other news, Barcelona were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League after losing 3-0 to Roma away from home. Roma had scored an away goal in their first leg where they lost 4-1. The scorers on this day were De Rossi, Dzeko and Manolas. Roma had enough to eliminate Barcelona by overturning a 3-0 deficit for the first time in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

Manchester City shocked by a 3-0 defeat from Liverpool

The mind games played by Klopp prior to this match evidently had an effect on the result of the match. He talked about his team’s strengths and predicted that his team could hurt Manchester City on Wednesday night. Before we look into how that happened, we first have to look into a special moment leading into the match.

The Manchester City bus was attacked by Liverpool fans on its way to the Anfield for the UEFA Champions League clash between the two teams. The violent scenes saw a window smashed and Liverpool FC immediately apologized when they heard the terrible news. The damage was done though because it instilled fear into the City team that was full of confidence from their domestic dominance. The match kicked off later and Liverpool were on the front foot. Roberto Firmino robbed Kyle Walker before sliding a pass to the Egyptian Messiah, Mo Salah, who fired in past Ederson in the 12th minute. Leroy Sane almost provided a quick response to his team when he charged down Liverpool’s defense only to see his miskicked effort going wide. That was the end of Manchester City’s contribution in the first half as Liverpool produced a blistering performance leading to a second goal by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who shot past Ederson from 25 yards out. What a hit it was by Ox, leaving Ederson to watch helplessly as the ball whistled by him into the net. City’s defense continued to look in disarray and failed to cope with the intensity of the home side. Sadio Mane headed down the 3rd from a cross by Mo Salah on the 31st minute and that was it for the night. Guardiola’s tactical approach of playing Gundogan instead of Sterling did not pay off as they failed to produce one short on target in the first half. The second half was better by the City side who dominated in possession and forced Liverpool to defend fantastically. Trent Alexander-Arnold went home with the man of the match award after a fine defensive performance at right-back in charge of shutting down Sane. He also blocked Silva from scoring a cross in the second half to ensure Liverpool win without conceding. City have a tough mountain to climb now just like Juventus. Can they produce a special moment in the return leg?

On another front, Barcelona won 4-1 against Roma thanks to two own goals and a goal apiece by Pique and Suarez. Messi had a fine game but the match showed that the player is still struggling with fitness issues.