With the expected compulsory exercise, the English soccer champions Manchester City made it into the quarter-finals of the Champions League perfectly.
After the decisive 5-0 win in the first leg at Sporting Lisbon, the team around national player Ilkay Gündogan was content with an unspectacular zero number in the second leg against the Portuguese in front of their home crowd.
Manchester manager Pep Guardiola made six changes from the triumphant 4-1 league derby against Manchester United three days earlier. As a result, in addition to Gündogan, the only 19-year-old defender CJ Egan-Riley rotated into the starting lineup of the Citizens for his premier class debut.
The clear constellation through the first leg before the change of sides was clearly noticeable for both teams in their limited enthusiasm. Apart from a chance for the hosts through Raheem Sterling (39th), scoring chances remained scarce in the first half.
Shortly after the break, Gabriel Jesus met for the British. But because the video evidence revealed the shooter was offside, the goal didn’t count. In the second half, too, both teams acted largely uninspired and reeled off their workload more or less listlessly.