UEFA Champions League: City look bound for CL quarters, Spurs held

Basel: Manchester City lived up to their billing by clobbering Basel 4-0 here in the first leg of their Champions League pre-quarterfinal tie, making the reverse fixture in England almost a formality.

The hosts, seen as the weakest side in the round of 16, on Tuesday were simply no match for a City squad that leads the English Premier League (EPL) by 16 points, reports Efe.

The onslaught began with German midfielder Ilkay Gündogan, who got his head to a Kevin de Bruyne corner kick. Before Basel could catch their breath, it was 2-0 for the visitors thanks to a strike in the 17th minute by Portuguese winger Bernando Silva.

Argentine centre-forward Sergio Agüero, fresh off his four-goal performance against Leicester, tucked the ball just inside the post to put the hosts down 3-0 in the 22nd minute.

Basel showed a brief flicker of life after the half-time break, but Gündogan produced his second goal of the night in the 53rd minute to shut the door.

Similarly, London giants, Tottenham Hotspur overcame a 2-0 deficit in the first 10 minutes to draw 2-2 here with Juventus in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie.

Gonzalo Higuain scored one from a free-kick and converted a penalty to give the hosts a 2-0 lead inside 10 minutes but the London football club battled back with strikes from Harry Kane (35th minute) and Christian Eriksen (71st) on Tuesday.

On the other hand Real Madrid go head to head for a mouth watering clash against PSG tonight while a resurgent Liverpool travel to Estadio do Dragao to face FC Porto in what would be their first match in the knockout stages of the competition since 2008-09.

With inputs from IANS