Raphinha scores hat-trick in 100th appearance for Barca
Brazilian winger Raphinha celebrated his 100th appearance for FC Barcelona with a hat-trick goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League encounter on Wednesday night.
Manchester City put one foot in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals as the Premier League giants smashed FC Basel 4-0 away in their round-of-16 first leg clash on Tuesday night.
Ilkay Gündoğan gave the visitors the lead in the 14th minute with a smart header at the first-post from a Kevin De Bruyne corner before Bernardo Silva doubled their advantage with a volley inside the box four minutes later.
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City were in an unforgiving mood against the Swiss outfit and Sergio Aguero, who notched four goals on the weekend in their Premier League romp over Leicester City, would find the back of the net with a well-struck shot from distance seven minutes before the half-hour mark.
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Basel, who had come second in their Group which was topped by City’s derby rivals Manchester United, weren’t expected to beat the Sky Blues but this was dominance on an another level as Pep Guardiola’s side never truly looked in danger of conceding.
After the restart, Gundongan would extend the visitors’ lead in the 53rd minute as City cantered through the second-half.
Pep Guardiola run in the changes near the hour-mark, with Raheem Sterling making way for the returning Leroy Sane and David Silva would replace Kevin De Bruyne soon after.
In the other round-of-16 clash on the night, Tottenham Hotspur recovered from a poor start against Juventus to scrape a 2-2 draw at the Allianz Stadium and on the whole, the Premier League’s sides laid down a statement for the rest of Europe.
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The second-leg of City’s pre-quarter tie will take place at the Etihad Stadium on March 7 but it is almost impossible for the Sky Blues to crash out of the continental competition as they are effectively through to the last-four.
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