Sports Round-up

 

 

 

By: HARRY IVAN

The UEFA Champions League made a return this week with some mouth-watering fixtures.

Tuesday's round-of-16 first-leg match between Real Madrid and Liverpool ended in a 5-2 victory in favor of Real Madrid, thanks to a remarkable comeback. The 14-time champions scored five goals in what appeared to be a rematch of Madrid's victory in the Champions League final last season, with Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior each scoring twice. Liverpool started on a high note. Darwin Nunez's spectacular flicked-on goal and Mohamed Salah's close-range goal following Madrid goalkeeper's ridiculous error gave Liverpool a two-goal advantage in a thrilling first half.

Barely 20 minutes later, Vinicius, who was cutting to his right in the penalty area, curled a brilliant low shot past Alisson to make it 2-1 for Real Madrid. From a similar laughable goalkeeper error, Madrid scored their second, as Alisson's pass was mishit and bounced off Vinicius, looped up over the Liverpool keeper and rolled into the net to level the score before the half time break.

Early second-half goals from Eder Militao and Benzema staked Madrid to a shocking 4-2, hushing the Anfield crowd and leaving Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp looking perplexed on the sideline. Karim Benzema netted Madrid's fifth goal to seal the win for the Spanish side.

In another match, RB Leipzig held Manchester City to a shocking draw at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday. RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol headed in a 70th-minute goal to neutralize  out Riyad Mahrez's opener in the first half and earn a 1-1 draw against visitors Manchester City.

The 21-year-old defender bagged the deserved equalizer with a towering header that flew past Man City's goalkeeper Alisson. In addition to his goal, Gvardiol frustrated Man City star Erling Haaland throughout the evening, as he kept the Norway international relatively quiet over the course of 90 minutes. Interestingly, Josko Gvardiol doesn't score often but when he does, it is mostly against big sides. Wednesday's equalizer was his first club goal since October 25th, 2022 when he scored against Real Madrid in the group stages.

Manchester City has now recorded a draw in their last two games after being held 1-1 by Nottingham Forest in the Premier League last Saturday, while Leipzig's four-game winning run in the competition came to an end.

Despite the second-half hitch, City might have had a chance to win it at the end through a penalty kick. Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk however waved away City's appeals for a penalty when Benjamin Henrichs appeared to touch the ball in the box. Manchester City will face Leipzig in the return fixture at the Etihad Stadium on March 14, holding tightly to their hopes to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals for the sixth year in a row