Manchester City reached the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time under Pep Guardiola after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in Germany, winning the tie 4-2 on aggregate.
Holding a 2-1 advantage from the first leg, City did not know whether to stick or twist in the early stages and were caught cold by a fantastic strike from 17-year-old Jude Bellingham, who became the youngest English goalscorer in the Champions League.
Guardiola has seen his City team knocked out at the quarter-final stage in the last three seasons and must have been fearing the worst again, but Emre Can handed the visitors a lifeline when handling a cross. Riyad Mahrez stroked home the resulting penalty from the spot before Phil Foden hammered in a second in the 75th minute from the edge of the area to rubberstamp the victory.
City, whose quest for an unprecedented Quadruple lives on, will now face Paris Saint-Germain in the last four.
It is the first time City have reached the semis under current boss Pep Guardiola, who twice won the competition during his time as manager of Barcelona.
Their previous appearance in the last four came in 2015-16, when they were knocked out by Real Madrid in Manuel Pellegrini’s final season in charge.
The defeat likely ends Dortmund’s hopes of playing in next season’s Champions League, with them fifth in the Bundesliga, seven points behind fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt.
With record-breaking Premier League titles and domestic cups aplenty to their name, City have conquered the English game under Guardiola. Another league crown is incoming and could well be garnished by a couple of domestic cups.
But European glory continues to elude them.
In the build-up to Wednesday’s second leg, the Spanish manager hinted at the Champions League aspirations that partly motivated his appointment, admitting that he will be seen as a failure if he fails to deliver the prize to the Etihad during his time at the club.
Wednesday’s result represents a pivotal moment in achieving that, with the psychological hurdle of getting past the quarter-finals cleared.
The manner of their second-leg win – devoid of panic, even after falling behind, and trusting in a process that ultimately saw them sweep aside a tricky opponent – puts them in even greater stead.
