The first matches of the UEFA Champions League final were played last night.

Tottenham 1 – Manchester City 0

Manchester City went to Tottenham last night and the performance they put on was very unlike them and below standard. Tottenham on the other hand, encouraged by the new stadium and feeding off the excitement of their fans and the ‘home advantage’ did not disappoint.

Tottenham’s goalie, Hugo Lloris had suffered a bad run in their last Premier League match by letting in a cheap Liverpool goal but he redeemed himself by blocking a potentially dangerous penalty from Sergio Agüero.

However, the goalkeeper was not the only reason City was unable to score yesterday. Tottenham really held City all over the pitch, with Harry Winks showing extreme maturity with his defending and attacking.

Tottenham overcame Agüero’s penalty scare and Harry Kane’s injury which resulted from a struggle with Fabian Delph.

Son’s goal in the later parts of the match was well-deserved and it sealed the deal for Tottenham.

Were Manchester City looking at this match as a walk over? Did they all have Kevin De Bruyne’s sentiment about there being no relation between a new stadium, loud, energetic supporters and match success?

Well whatever they felt, Man City only have themselves to blame and cannot complain. They should have remembered last year’s incident with fellow English club, Liverpool. Only gratitude is expected as Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son scored only one goal.

---

Liverpool 2 – Porto 0

Liverpool and Porto faced off at Anfield for the first leg of the quarter-final.

Manager Jürgen Klopp said he was left ‘satisfied’ by the performance of his team and of the final result.

Maybe it was underestimation, or maybe it was the bitter cold, but Liverpool’s performance was quite average, even below average at times. Many times, Porto had the upper hand and had a try at goal in the second minute, when Moussa Marega made a shot that went a little too wide.

But three minutes later, Guinean footballer Naby Keïta scored his second goal in two games. His shot was deflected of Porto midfielder, Oliver Torres and could not be stopped by keeper Iker Casillas.

After this Mohamed Salah attempted two shots on goal (one which was as the result of a sloppy Porto pass) and then, in the twenty-fifth minute, Jordan Henderson cut up the visitors’ defense and sent a superb pass to Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The youngster passed to Roberto Firmino who tapped in the ball from close range.

Firmino had another chance to score but kicked the ball from Henderson over the bar.

Sadio Mané had a chance but the goal was ruled as offside. And besides this and Marega’s two other dangerous attempts which were saved by Liverpool’s Allison Becker, there were not really any other attempts in the scrappy second half.

Liverpool might regret their sloppy play in the second leg, because a two goal deficit is easy to overcome, should Porto bring this same fighting spirit.

---

Today’s matches are between

Manchester United and Barcelona

Ajax and Juventus

Both at 8:00 pm