All first-leg of 16 matches of the Champions League have been held. Eight matches were held in two stages over two weeks. In the two most recent matches, Wednesday (02/13/2019), Atletico Madrid successfully defeated Juventus with a score of 2-0. The host won as the result of goals from Jose Gimenez in the 78th minute and Diego Godin (82 ‘).
One of the interesting to highlight from the match is Atletico’s coach celebration. Simeone’s celebration after Gimenez’s goal was widely discussed on Twitter. Because, he was considered to have committed inappropriate actions. “I admit that is not a good signal, but I feel the need to do it,” Simeone said after the game was quoted from the BBC. “It was a difficult match, we struggled very hard and Diego Costa worked very hard when he was not 100 percent fit,” Simeone said. The Argentine man apologized for his actions.
As for the other matches, Man City turned the situation over Schalke 04 and won 3-2. In the match that took place at the Veltins-Arena Stadium, Schalke scored a goal from the penalty spot which was well executed by Nabil Mentaleb in the 38th and 45th minutes. Man City responded to three goals through Sergio Aguero in the 18th minute, Leroy Sane (85 ‘), and Raheem Sterling (90’).
Although being a guest team, Man City was able to dominate ball possession. Schalke scoring opportunity came after a violation occurred in the Man City penalty box. City defender Nicolas Otamendi accidentally blocked Daniel Caligiuri’s kick with his hand. The Spanish referee, Carlos Del Cerro, then gave Otamendi a yellow card while pointing to the spot after asking for VAR confirmation. At the end of the first half, Schalke was once again awarded a penalty after Fernandinho pulled Salif Sane’s shirt until it fell inside the penalty box. Entering 68 minutes’, the Citizens must play with 10 people after Otamendi gets a second yellow card after breaking Guido Burgstaller. Although playing minus one player, Man City still dominated the game. Their comeback moment was created at the end of the match.
The following are complete results from eight matches held from Wednesday (02/2/2019) to Thursday (02/21/2019):
– AS Roma 2-1 FC Porto
– Man United 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain
– Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Borussia Dortmund
– Ajax Amsterdam 1-2 Real Madrid
– Lyon 0-0 Barcelona
– Liverpool 0-0 Bayern Munich
– Atletico Madrid 2-0 Juventus
– Schalke 2-3 Man City
The second leg of the matches is scheduled to take place on March 6-7 and March 13-14, 2019. Juventus and Atletico will meet again in the second leg at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on 13 March 2019.
ASL
