Sergio Ramos Sees Red As Real Madrid Lose 1 – 2 To Man City

• Juventus fall 0-1 to Lyon in France

After crashing to a 1-2 home defeat in the hands of Englush Champions, Manchester City, attention will be on the Clasico ahead of this weekend as Real Madrid seek to redeem themdlves and turn around a shattering first-leg result in their UEFA Champions League tie.

For a few minutes, the Blancos looked extremely delightsome and
“Kings of Europe,” crowed the Santiago Bernabeu after Isco sent them one up on City against the run of play.

There were vibes of the ‘three-peat’ team, the record 13-time winners with the scent of the trophy in their nostrils once again.

But it all fell apart in the final quarter of an hour, with Pep Guardiola’s side coming from behind to earn a 2-1 last-16 first-leg victory on Wednesday.

The defeat effectively exposed how Zinedine Zidane has only managed to paper over the cracks since returning at the end of last season.

Madrid were humiliated by Ajax at this stage a year ago, the nadir of a disasterous campaign, and this meltdown had shades of that as Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne struck for the visitors before captain Sergio Ramos was sent off for a late professional foul.

In France, Italian giants, Juventus were also subdued 1-0 by hosts, Lyon through Lucas Tousart goal to give them big second leg task in Champions League last 16 round.

Though not pretty, Tousart did just enough to score the only goal of the night, shinning the ball past the keeper Wojciech Szczęsny

The Old Ladies of Turin have not won the Champions League since 1996 and it has become the holy grail for a club for whom domestic titles are now simply mundane.

Cristiano Ronaldo and company must have been quietly pleased when the draw handed them Lyon in the last-16, but they found the French side a tough prospect in this first leg and now have to do things the hard way in Turin on March 17th.

The French side defended stoutly, their three centre halves compressing the play throughout, and although Juventus enjoyed most of the ball and the chances, Lyon were clinical when it mattered.

Lyon had just two shots on target in the 90 minutes, but one of them found the net as Lucas Tousart’s left shin delivered the ball past Juve keeper Wojciech Szczęsny from Houssem Aouar’s cross.

Juve were temporarily playing with ten as Mathias De Ligt was getting treatment for a bang on the head.

Overall, Juventus had 15 attempts but only one of them was on target. Ronaldo was not quite at his lethal best, switching from left wing to the centre after half time, but still not quite able to find genuine scoring opportunities. – Agency reports