(REUTERS) – Real Madrid cruised past a sloppy Liverpool with a 3-1 defeat in Madrid at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium on Tuesday.
Madrid Coach, Zinedine Zidane praised Brazilian Vinicius Junior after he scored twice. The 20-year-old had 13 shots against Liverpool. In the 27th minute, he stunned Liverpool with the match opener.
Marco Asensio gave the hosts a further lead with a second goal against the English side in the 35th minute.
Liverpool attempted a recovery when striker Mohamed Salah pulled one back in the second half. But that glimmer of hope was destroyed moments later when Vinicius Junior scored for the second time in the game putting Madrid up 3-1.
Zidane said he will approach the second leg at Anfield as if the score was 0-0. In 2019 Liverpool managed to come back from a 3-0 deficit against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said their team was not good enough to win but they will focus on the fact that there is a second leg.
The two will meet again in England at Anfield on April 14.
Manchester City squeeze by Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, with a last-minute goal from Phil Foden to put the England side ahead 2-1, at the Etihad in Manchester.
City went ahead in the 19th minute with a goal from midfielder Kevin De Bruyne. Manchester City was then awarded a penalty but correctly overturned by VAR after the challenge by Can on Rodri.
Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan was at the centre of things again when City keeper Ederson hesitated and Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham nipped in and slotted the ball into the net, but the 17-year-old was harshly ruled to have fouled the Brazilian.
Dortmund star Marco Reus scored with six minutes left in the game to tie the teams.
Twenty-year-old Phil Foden scored in the 90th with a clinical finish from close range assisted by Ilkay Gundogan.
City’s manager Pep Guardiola said he overall happy with his team’s performance and the important thing is they won and the plan to do so again in the second leg.
The second leg will take place at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund on April 14.
