Down a man, City get Sane power

GELSENKIRCHEN (Germany), Feb 21 

Ten-man Manchester City staged a dramatic comeback with late goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling securing them a 3-2 win at Schalke 04 in their Champions League Round of 16 first leg on Wednesday that put the English side in the driving seat. Substitute Sane scored against his former club with a sensational free-kick in the 86th and Sterling grabbed a 90th-minute winner after Nabil Bentaleb converted two spot-kicks in the 38th and 45th minutes in Schalke’s own comeback.

Sergio Aguero had given City the lead in the 18th and the English champions were left with 10 men in the 68th minute when Nicolas Otamendi was sent off following a second booking. City have conceded at least two goals in six of their seven games in the Champions League knockout stages under Pep Guardiola.

Atletico strike late

MADRID: Atletico Madrid took a huge advantage in their heavyweight last-16 tie with Juventus, earning a 2-0 home win thanks to late goals from Uruguayan defenders Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin in a tense, incident-packed game. 

Juve’s signing of Cristiano Ronaldo was a clear attempt to boost their firepower and hopes of winning the competition but the man who scored 22 times against Atletico as a Real Madrid player was kept relatively quiet on his return to the Spanish capital. — Reuters

Results (round of 16)

• Atletico (Gimenez 78’,Godin 83)  ’2-0   Juventus
• Schalke ( Bentaleb 38’(P), 45’(P))  2-3 Man City (Aguero 18’, Sane 85’, Sterling 90’)