Man City with Champions League advantage

THE oil sheikhs of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar sent their swanky squads out on a Paris pitch to fight one another to a standstill. With Manchester City’s Fernandinho snatching a late equaliser, the 2-2 scoreline gives Manuel Pellegrini’s men a golden chance to reach the Champions League semi-finals. 

Two away goals means that City go into Tuesday’s return at the Etihad with a decided advantage over a cagey PSG team that made uncharacteristic slips. They are still a potent attacking force, however, with a wicked front two of Ibrahimovic and Cavani, and will pose a real threat in six days time. 

Wolfsburg meanwhile inflicted a shock defeat on Real Madrid, with two goals in a frantic seven-minute spell leaving the world’s richest club in embarrassing disarray.

The 10-time winners now face a tough task in progressing to the last four, though with home advantage in the second leg it would be foolish to write them off.

Ronaldo was thwarted on several occasions, while his teammates were generally frustrated by a scrappy display from the German side, which sits third in the Bundesliga. 

With Barcelona and Bayern enjoying slim leads over Atletico and Benfica in the other quarter-final ties, all four semi-final spots remain up in the air in what promises to be an exciting week.