MORNING FOOTY FANS
It was an action-packed night of football last night in the Premier League and Champions League.
Manchester City kicked-off proceedings with a goals galore 5-2 win over Southampton at the Etihad.
Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez bagged a brace each and Ilkay Gundogan scored the other.
James Ward-Prowse had given the visitors hope with a penalty to make it 1-1 but Saints’ hopes were soon dashed as they went in 3-1 down at the break.
Che Adams added a consolation in the second-half but it was too little too late. City went 14 points clear of Man Utd at the top of the league while Saints stayed 14th.
In the Champions League, Liverpool beat RB Leipzig 2-0 (4-0 on aggregate) in Hungary thanks to second-half goals from Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.
The Reds qualified for the quarter-finals alongside Paris Saint-Germain who drew 1-1 with Barcelona in France on the night but won 5-2 on aggregate.
Kylian Mbappe’s penalty put the Parisiens one up before Lionel Messi scored a 30-yard rocket to draw his side level.
Barca – particularly Ousmane Dembele – missed a hat full of chances in the first-half and Messi even missed a pen which cannoned off Keylor Navas’ legs and on to the crossbar.
But PSG shut up shop in the second half and the game finished a draw.
Elsewhere, Ryan Giggs’ Euro 2020 dream is in the balance after a fresh setback.
The Wales manager will miss three more games including the opening 2022 World Cup qualifiers this month as he has been kept on ‘special leave’ by the Welsh FA with his ‘assault’ case still under investigation.
Cristiano Ronaldo will reportedly be allowed to leave Juventus this summer.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has revealed he has apologised to Alexandre Lacazette for mocking him after his ‘world record’ scream against Burnley.
And finally, The planned full reopening of Prem turnstiles next season will see a return of the Saturday afternoon TV “blackout”.
Government pressure saw clubs agree to all top-flight games being screened from June’s resumption. That came with the FA’s blessing for 3pm matches to be broadcast live for the first time since the mid-1960s.
Sky and BT reluctantly agreed and that carried over into this term with gates shut.
This was apart from a brief spell before Christmas when 17 matches were played in front of small crowds.
But the two main broadcasters are keen for the original terms of their £1.665billion annual deal — covering 20 of the 380 total games — to be restored once fans are back.