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Wins for Liverpool and Man City in Champions League

champions league quarter final first leg benfica v liverpool
Liverpool celebrate a big win in Portugal

Liverpool took a firm grip of their Champions League tie with Benfica as goals from Ibrahima Konate, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz earned them a 3-1 victory in Lisbon in their quarter-final first leg on Tuesday.

Konate opened the scoring with a close-range header from a corner and Mane extended Liverpool’s lead 30 minutes into what was an one-sided first half, with Mohamed Salah, Diaz and Naby Keita all passing up great scoring chances.

Yet five minutes after the break, 22-year-old French defender Konate completely missed a cross and allowed in-form striker Darwin Nunez to score and put Benfica, roared on by a sold-out Estadio da Luz, back into the game.

Benfica gained in confidence and briefly took charge but former Porto winger Diaz, who never lost a match against their bitter rivals Benfica, scored on the counter-attack after a Keita through ball.

De Bruyne gives City single goal lead for Atletico trip
MANCHESTER, England, April 5 (Reuters) – Kevin De Bruyne’s 70th minute goal earned Manchester City a 1-0 win at home to Atletico Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final, first leg match on Tuesday.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico had frustrated City throughout the first half with their deep lying defending and reliance on only the occasional counter to threaten the hosts.

The Premier League champions were unable to turn their total dominance of possession into clear chances until substitute Phil Foden produced the skill and vision to decide the game.

Foden drew three Atletico defenders towards him before splitting the Spanish defence with a perfectly weighted pass to De Bruyne who slotted past Jan Oblak with a side-foot finish.

The second leg will be held at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on Wednesday, April 13.

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