Haaland nets 45th in Bayern tie, Inter beat Benfica
Erling Haaland scored his 45th goal of the season as Manchester City took a commanding 3-0 first leg lead over Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday. Rodri and Bernardo Silva were also on target for the English champions, who took a giant stride towards finally conquering Europe for the first time. Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel got the better of Guardiola and City when he was Chelsea manager in the 2021 final. But in 11 meetings between the two coaches, Guardiola has still only lost three times and got the better of his German counterpart in a heavyweight clash between two of the favourites to win the competition. Rodri opened for City from long range and on his weaker left foot, as he curled a sumptuous shot into the top corner after 27 minutes Bayern's Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer made a number of saves to keep the Germans in the tie, but City finally turned the screw in the final quarter to take a potentially decisive lead to Bavaria next week. Haaland showed there is more to his game than goals with a perfectly weighted cross for Silva to head in City's second 20 minutes from time. Six minutes later, the Norwegian stretched out a telescopic leg to turn John Stones' knockdown beyond Sommer. Meanwhile, in Portugal, Inter Milan put one foot into the semi-finals with a comfortable 2-0 win at Benfica, as Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku both found the net in Lisbon. The Italians, three time winners, took a commanding quarter-final first leg lead at the Estadio da Luz, inflicting Benfica's first defeat in the competition. After an even first half, Barella headed home from Alessandro Bastoni's cross and substitute Romelu Lukaku netted the second from the penalty spot late on. (AFP)