Tottenham completes historic comeback; Man City dominates as UCL returns
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The 2017/18 UEFA Champions League resumed on Tuesday with Manchester City recording a routine 4-0 away win at Basel while Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur played out a 2-2 draw in Italy.
Premier League leaders Man City scored all four of their goals before the hour mark, as goals from Ilkay Gundogan in either half, Bernardo Silva, and Sergio Aguero gave the English side a convincing first-leg aggregate lead.
Swiss side Basel will have their work cut out for them when they play the return leg in Manchester on March 7.
After the match, Man City captain Vincent Kompany applauded his side’s “work rate in defending,” but cautioned his team not to lose focus as there is still another game to play.
“We have [shown] we were the better team today and only for a lack of motivation or effort can we not [do the same in the return leg],” he told BT Sport.
Goalscorer Gundogan said the result was “perfect,” but admitted, “there are still plenty of things to improve.”
Meanwhile, in the other match, Tottenham came back from two goals down to earn a crucial draw away at Juventus.
The Italian side took an early two-goal lead under 10 minutes after a double from striker Gonzalo Higuain before Englishman Harry Kane pulled one back for Spurs.
Higuain failed to score from the penalty spot right before half-time, sending his shot crashing against the crossbar, as Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen scored a free-kick in the second-half to complete the comeback.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino told reporters after the match that his team showed maturity and “is growing, stepping up in this aspect.”
“Today is a very good example that the team is more mature,” he said. “The first minutes were difficult for us, but the team was amazing in the way we reacted.”
Juventus will travel to London in March for the return leg at Wembley Stadium, but Tottenham will feel they have the upper hand, especially after scoring two crucial away goals.
The Champions League continues tomorrow with mouth-watering ties between Paris Saint Germain and Real Madrid in Spain as well as Liverpool and FC Porto in Portugal.
