Manchester City was pressured to win in the last match of the Champions League group stage.
A tricky situation, but beforehand the supporters were optimistic despite this. The reason? The opponents in the decisive match were "only" Belgian Club Brugge, which City should be able to break down without problems.
But the home supporters would have to think again.
Shocked the home team
When half the match was played, it was the Belgian guests who had taken the lead, when Raphael Onyedika completed a turn of play and thundered in 1–0. This despite Manchester City having parked outside the guests' penalty area for almost the entire first half.
Luckily for the home team, Mateo Kovacic took matters into his own hands and equalized early in the second half. And after an hour and a quarter, Josko Gvardiol could complete the turnaround to 2–1, via Brugge's Joel Ordonez's leg.
When the final whistle blew, coach Pep Guardiola could breathe a sigh of relief. The final score was 3–1, after a concluding goal by Savinho.
Manchester City advanced to the round of 16 as the 22nd team out of 24, thanks to goal difference, and thus avoided a fiasco.
Sporting advances – without Gyökeres
Also Sporting Lisbon, who were without Viktor Gyökeres for the evening due to injury, advanced with difficulty.
Gyökeres' Danish replacement, Conrad Harder, angled in the equalizer against Bologna in the 77th minute, which meant 1–1 and that the team snatched place 23 and advanced.
The round of 16 will be drawn on January 31, the next step will be drawn on February 21, and then everything will be decided according to a knockout bracket. The clubs will be seeded according to their table position.
The round of 16 will begin on February 11–12.
Kasper Ljungström/TT
Facts: Top eight and clear for quarterfinals
TT
1. Liverpool, 21 p
2. Barcelona, 19 p (+15 in goal difference)
3. Arsenal, 19 p (+13)
4. Inter, 19 p (+10)
5. Atletico Madrid, 18 p
6. Bayer Leverkusen, 16 p (+8)
7. Lille, 16 p (+7, more goals scored)
8. Aston Villa, 16 p (+7)
Teams 9-24 play in the round of 16.
