Erling Haaland put the Ethiad Stadium in a trance on Tuesday night. It must be said that the Norwegian striker has again written a page in the history of the Champions League by scoring a quintuple. With this incredible performance, Manchester City pulverized 7-0 the Germans of Leipzig, to qualify for the quarter-finals of the competition, a stadium also reached by Inter Milan after their 0-0 draw in Porto.

Held in check 1-1 in the first leg, the Sky Blues dominated head and shoulders the eighth of final return on their lawn, carried by an undeniable collective momentum, sometimes generous whistles and a hat-trick of their untenable Norwegian N.9 in the first half. Before the break, in fact, Haaland saw triple on penalty kick (22nd), from the head (24th) and then by pushing away a ball flirting with the goal line (45th+2).

Haaland in the footsteps of Messi and Adrian

After the 4-0 by Ilkay Gündogan (49th), the 22-year-old giant scored his fourth (53rd) and fifth (57th) goals of the evening, before giving way on the hour mark under a huge ovation from the stadium. Arriving this summer from Dortmund, Erling Haaland is making a place in the golden book of the Champions League with the third quintuple in modern history. Before him, only Lionel Messi with FC Barcelona in 2012 and Brazilian Luiz Adrian in 2014 with Shakhtar Donetsk had achieved such a feat.

Above all, Haaland is playing only his fourth season in C1 but he is already at the top: he is now credited with 33 goals in 25 games in the European elite, a record of precocity. He also compiled 39 goals (in 36 games) with the Citizens, which is already a record for the north of England club over a season.

All is well for the Mancunians who will play the quarter-finals for the sixth consecutive year, thanks to Haaland and, perhaps in part, to a lenient refereeing. The penalty converted by the Norwegian follows a German hand detected by the video assistance and not very obvious. Above all, goalkeeper Ederson miraculously escaped a red card after an uncontrolled exit outside his box (34th).

A more indecisive match between Porto and Milan

The other meeting of the evening, on the other hand, proved to be much more indecisive between FC Porto and Inter Milan (0-0). At home, the Dragons failed to erase the 1-0 defeat suffered in the first leg in Italy, despite three clear chances in added time. The Nerazzurri went through a mouse hole but that was enough for their happiness, they who had not reached the quarters since 2011.

They join AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Benfica and Chelsea in the top 8. The last two tickets will be distributed this Wednesday. Real Madrid, winner 5-2 in Liverpool, and the Italians of Napoli, dominating in Frankfurt (2-0), however killed part of the suspense in the first leg.

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