A-League

Liverpool is set to meet Villarreal and Manchester City has a showdown booked with Real Madrid with a spot in the Paris final on the line.

However, their highest-profile showdown came in the 2015–16 semifinals when Real advanced on a 1–0 scoreline before winning the first of three straight European titles under Zinedine Zidane. While City is still searching for its first Champions League title after outlasting Atlético in the quarterfinals, Real Madrid will be seeking a record 14th trophy. Their most recent meeting came in the pandemic-delayed 2019–20 campaign, when City eliminated Real from the round of 16 on a 4–2 aggregate. While all three European powers have made the Champions League semifinals over the past three seasons, Unai Emery’s Villarreal will be making its first semifinal appearance since 2005–06, when it lost to Arsenal on a 1–0 aggregate.

Wellington have moved up to fifth on the A-League Men ladder with a goal to Mexican Gael Sandoval giving them a 1-0 win over last-placed Perth in Sydney.

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City, a team shaped by style, showed it was also skilled in the dark arts as eliminated Atlético Madrid and moved a step closer to its first Champions ...

It is the way it is because it works. Often, it is so easy to be dazzled by the brilliance of Guardiola’s side that its character, its courage, is overlooked. Atlético is not the way it is for fun. City does not wilt and it does not doubt; it keeps going, remorselessly, absolute in its conviction that it will be proved right in the end. He knows there are times when that is what matters, that is what counts. That is as much part of Guardiola’s recipe as anything else. There is no team more associated with beauty than Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. He has come, over the years, to stand as an embodiment of soccer’s higher values, its ultimate arbiter of taste, its aesthete in chief. Atlético should, by rights, be a heroic underdog among Europe’s elite, a countercultural alternative to the hegemony of pressing and possession. No injury was shaken off; even the most minor bump and bruise warranted an extended period of treatment. Simeone has spent a decade crafting a team in his own image, one that plays, just as he did, with a “knife between its teeth.” There were flashes, of course, Atlético Madrid charging forward, desperately hunting the goal that would break Manchester City’s resistance and take the game into extra time, extend their stay in the Champions League for another 30 minutes or, just maybe, another few weeks. There was quite a lot of time-wasting.

In the past, Man City have been guilty of allowing Champions League knockout ties to descend into chaos, but they handled Atletico Madrid well.

"Overall we are in the semifinals -- it is well deserved. There were spells on Wednesday, particularly in the second half, when it looked like the game would veer that way but this is a City team who look far better for the experiences of those harrowing exits. "In the first half, we had chances. Mixed in were moments of calm when it would have been easy for City to fold. At the Etihad last week, they didn't look keen to engage with City's blue shirts much beyond the edge of their own penalty area but at home they suddenly found a whole other half to play in. That Atletico's frustration eventually boiled over was credit to the way Man City managed an awkward tie amid the mayhem to see out the game 0-0 and hold the aggregate at 1-0, setting up a semifinal with Real Madrid later this month.

Wellington are now clear of seventh-placed Macarthur FC and a point behind fourth with games in hand.

Price will walk on to Katy Perry's 'Roar' at the AO Arena stage in Manchester on Thursday as he takes on Peter Wright in a crucial Premier League clash.

"I listened to the lyrics and I think they suit me and my game, hopefully it can give me a good fresh start in the Premier League." Gerwyn Price drops 'Ice Ice Baby' by Vanilla Ice for Katy Perry's 'Roar' as the Premier League heads to the AO Arena in Manchester on Thursday; "I listened to the lyrics and I think they suit me and my game, hopefully it can give me a good fresh start in the Premier League" Price will walk on to Katy Perry's 'Roar' at the AO Arena stage in Manchester on Thursday as he takes on Peter Wright in a crucial Premier League clash.