Babatunji Wusu –
In the 87th minute, Julian Alvarez of Manchester City scored a goal to help the European champions come back from a two-goal deficit and win the Champions League Group G title on Tuesday, with one round of games left.
After one of City’s least impressive first halves of the season, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden added goals in the second half to give Pep Guardiola’s club 15 points after five games. Leipzig, which made it to the round of sixteen, has nine.
According to midfielder Foden, “the first half was the worst I’ve seen us,” TNT. “Motivation and courage turned things around. It’s wonderful to see that this crew has such a positive mindset.
In the 13th minute, Lois Openda took advantage of two defensive errors made by City to score both goals for Leipzig. She ran onto a long ball from goalkeeper Janis Blaswich that bounced over a lethargic Manuel Akanji. In the 33rd, he scored with seemingly equal ease, round Ruben Dias on his way around the goal.
The startled City supporters at the Etihad Stadium finally had cause for celebration in the 54th minute when Haaland, who had hammered five goals against Leipzig in a 7-0 rout in the Champions League last 16 in March, raced onto a pass from Foden and fired a low left-footed drive into the net.
“All we needed was that first goal to get going,” stated Foden. “After the goal, even the crowd were much more boisterous. The drive was there as soon as the first one was in. We have a fantastic record at the Etihad, and all it takes is one goal to turn things around.
Foden’s superb first touch and finish pulled City level, and Alvarez’s close-range shot gave the home team the lead after Foden’s pass was diverted into his path.
The last time City trailed by two goals in the Champions League was during their group stage loss to Olympique Lyonnais in 2018, which Guardiola’s team just about escaped. This was the team’s closest escape from defeat in European play at the Etihad.
Though it had a flurry of chances before the break, the greatest of which was Dias’ header over the bar, City looked like zombies during the first half, three days after its 1-1 top-of-the-table Premier League draw with Liverpool.
Guardiola’s Bayern Munich team overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat Juventus in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Champions League, marking his second such comeback in his managerial tenure.
On December 13, City concludes the group stage at Red Star Belgrade.
Young Boys defeated Red Star 2-0 to guarantee their spot in the Europa League knockout stage playoffs. Young Boys is currently in third position with four points. With one point, the Belgrade team sits at the bottom.
