Though they lost both center backs in the first half, Manchester City kept Dynamo Kyiv from ruining their first-leg result. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid end up victors in a scoreless affair with PSV Eindhoven.
Manchester City 0-0 Dynamo Kyiv (3-1 agg.)
Though their performance was far from their masterful first leg in Kyiv, Manchester City coasted into the Champions League quarterfinals Tuesday with a scoreless draw against Dynamo Kyiv. The milestone achievement for “The Citizens” did not come painlessly; Manuel Pellegrini had to take off starting center backs Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi in the first half with injuries.
Kompany called for a substitution six minutes into the match after chasing down Oleh Gusev, limping off the field under his own power. Otamendi departed less than 20 minutes later after colliding with Vitaliy Buyalskiy on a challenge. Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis came into the game early as a result, and Manchester City had to conserve energy for the rest of the game.
The English club nonetheless held Kyiv at bay, and strong City attacks helped relieve pressure on their defense. Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure nearly combined for an opener early in the second half, and Jesus Navas fired a shot off the post not long after. Dynamo Kyiv could not muster a goal against the second-string defense, and the tie came to an uneventful conclusion. Manchester City will take the historical result, though their injury losses may lead to peril in their domestic campaign.
Atletico Madrid 0-0 (8-7 pens.) PSV Eindhoven (0-0 agg.)
This result achieved history as well, but this kind of history was more in the boring department. Atletico Madrid and PSV Eindhoven became the first two clubs to end a Champions League tie scoreless after two legs, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Atleti fired away 24 shots in the 120 minutes of regular and extra time, including solid efforts from Antoine Griezmann and Fernando Torres. However, due to the quick reflexes of Jeroen Zoet between the sticks, the Spanish club was not able to put a goal on the scoreboard.
A scoreless 210 minutes in the two legs sent the two sides to penalty kicks, where the slimmest of margins allowed one team to prevail. Seven rounds saw 14 perfect spot kicks from both sides, even though Zoet got his hands to a few of Atleti’s efforts. PSV’s Luciano Narsingh gave the Spaniards the opening they needed, hitting the crossbar with his effort from the spot, before Juanfran slid in the deciding penalty. Atleti advance to the Champions League quarterfinals on penalties for the second straight year, though their inability to find the back of the net in regular time cast doubts they can reach a second final in three years.
