Schalke 2-2 Man City LIVE: Nicolas Otamendi SENT OFF, Leroy Sane goal, VAR controversy

Schalke vs Manchester City: Champions League score, goals and latest updates

SCHALKE 2-3 MANCHESTER CITY | AGUERO (18), BENTALEB (36, 44), SANE (84), STERLING (90)

Schalke XI: Fahrmann, Caliguiri, Bruma, Sane, Nastasic, Oczikpa, Serdar, Bentaleb, McKennie, Uth, Mendyl

Manchester City XI: Ederson, Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Bernardo, Sterling, Aguero

• Sergio Aguero opens the scoring after Schalke confusion

• Nicolas Otamendi penalised for handball, decision awarded by VAR

• Former Spurs ace Nabil Bentaleb scores penalty

• Fernandinho penalised for second penalty – Bentaleb scores again

• Otamendi sent off for second yellow card

• Leroy Sane scores sensational free-kick

• Raheem Sterling goal completes remarkable turnaround

SCHALKE 2-3 MANCHESTER CITY

FT: I need a lie down.

Manchester City, who conceded TWO penalties and had Nicolas Otamendi sent off, have somehow beaten Schalke on their own patch.

94: Booked! Oleksandr Zinchenko is shoved inside the Manchester City penalty area and goalkeeper Ederson is quickly off his line to get involved. He pushes and shoves the Schalke man to defend his mate and is shown a yellow card.

92: Schalke doing their best to equalise but they’ve not created anything clear-cut as Kyle Walker hoofs a clearance into orbit.

SCHALKE 2-3 MANCHESTER CITY | STERLING

90: I don’t believe it! 10-man Manchester City have completely turned this game on its head with two quick-fire goals at the death!

It’s incredibly simple as Raheem Sterling beats Oczipka to Ederson’s thumped clearance. The winger cuts inside and slots calmly past Ralf Fahrmann.

Three away goals? Yep, Manchester City have one-foot in the Champions League quarter-final draw.

88: It’s 10-man Manchester City applying all the late pressure. Leroy Sane nearly goes through again but a last-ditch tackle from Salif Sane just pokes it away from the German international.

86: Pep Guardiola makes a change with Oleksandr Zinchenko replacing Kevin De Bruyne.

SCHALKE 2-2 MANCHESTER CITY | SANE

84: What a hit son, what a hit!

Leroy Sane, formerly of Schalke, has just scored an absolute worldie of a free-kick.

Raheem Sterling is brought down 25 yards out, and the substitute steps up to thump a glorious, dipping strike past the outstretched Ralf Fahrmann. Simply stunning.

80: Just ticked over into the final ten minutes. Any more late twists and turns?

79: Pep Guardiola needs a goal… so he’s taken Sergio Aguero off. Strange decision as former Schalke star Leroy Sane takes his place.

77: Manchester City supporters aren’t the only Champions League side upset with VAR tonight. Alvaro Morata just had a goal overturned for a push on Giorgio Chiellini. Still Atletico 0-0 Juventus.

75: Close! Bernardo Silva is brought to ground just outside the area. De Bruyne goes low… just wide! Time running out for the visitors.

72: David Silva is the man sacrificed for Manchester City. Vincent Kompany takes his place.

SCHALKE 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY | RED CARD

69: What are you doing, Nicolas?! Good grief. Nicolas Otamendi is sent off for a second bookable offence when clumsily going through the back of substitute Guido Burgstaller.

Burgstaller was near the halfway line with no support. Otamendi simply didn’t need to do it.

66: Bernardo Silva goes down inside the area… and he’s lucky to avoid a booking. Must have been the stiff breeze inside the stadium that caused him to fall.

63: These Schalke players have transformed over 63 minutes. They started off looking nervous and vulnerable but they are growing in confidence with every passing second.

60: We’ve just ticked past the hour-mark here. City still trail the lowest ranked team left in this year’s Champions League.

58: Manchester City are guilty of losing their composure here. Everyone’s trying to force things and that’s playing into Schalke’s hands. They want this to be a street fight.

55: Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi will both miss the second lag because of suspension. I think I mentioned that during the penalty mayhem.

Sergio Aguero tries his luck again from outside the area but he’s dragged it wide.

52: Block! Sergio Aguero picks the ball up before wriggling his way into the penalty area in signature fashion. He pulls the trigger but there’s Matija Nastasic with the crucial interception.

51: Decent chances for both sides straight away. De Bruyne fires a low effort that whistles past the post before a dangerous cross just alludes the outstretched foot of Uth.

SCHALKE 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY

48: Wow! We’ve just found out that the referee did, in fact, want to go and look at the screen on the sidelines to check the Nicolas Otamendi and Fernandinho penalty decisions but couldn’t because it was broken.

Can a referee really give a penalty when he’s not been able to review the technology? Apparently so…

SCHALKE 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY

45: And we’re back underway for more fun and games. Fingers crossed we’re not talking about more VAR decisions in the second half.

Twitter round-up

Michael: Who would have thought a few months ago that Tottenham would be the one English team to progress the furthest in the Champions League.

Kev: So wait, VAR can see it’s a foul, but can’t see that the player who was fouled was offside? First pen was ridiculous too, he moved his arm away from ball, not to it.

Paul: You don’t need to know anything about laws of handball other than its supposed to be that any handball has to be deliberate. No way did Otamendi deliberately handle that ball. Never a penalty.

SCHALKE 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY

HT: Breathless. Opening 25 minutes it looked like Pep Guardiola’s side were going to blow Schalke away – but two penalties awarded by VAR have given the hosts an unexpected lead.

Manchester City behind in Gelsenkirchen. Who saw that coming?!

47: Close! Berardo Silva arrives on the edge of the penalty area to collect Kevin De Bruyne’s pass but he’s fizzed it over the crossbar.

Huge test of Manchester City’s character tonight. This wasn’t in the script.

45: Five minutes of added time. Not really enough seeing as the first VAR decision took four minutes at least!

SCHALKE 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY | BENTALEB

44: What?! Goodness me – what complete mayhem and drama!

Fernandinho quite clearly has his hands on the hips of Salif Sane, and the defender hits the deck. Referee Carlos Del Cerro checks with VAR before awarding Schalke’s second penalty.

Nabil Bentaleb places the ball down for a second time, and beats Ederson a second time.

41: Referee Carlos Del Cerro is seriously in danger of losing control of this match. There’s fouls going in all over the place and not much actual football taking place.

39: Apparently Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero were also booked for appealing the VAR decision. But nobody seems to know whether or not they have. I’ll keep you updated with that.

SCHALKE 1-1 MANCHESTER CITY | BENTALEB

37: Converted! It took an awfully long time but Schalke are level as former Spurs midfielder Nabil Bentaleb sends Ederson the wrong way.

PENALTY TO SCHALKE

35: It’s taken a while – but referee Carlos Del Cerro awards the penalty.

34: Penalty appeal! Full-back Caligiuri arrows a 25-yarder that thumps against Otamendi’s arm. The centre-back was trying to get his arm out of the way, but it was on target.

The referee asks VAR, who take an eternity to make the decision. It’s been three minutes already!

31: Kevin De Bruyne standing over a central free-kick just outside the penalty area. That’s not good news for anyone.

The Belgian steps up… saved. Not his finest.

28: Quick update from tonight’s other Champions League clash. It remains goalless but VAR has just overturned a penalty awarded to Atletico Madrid.

It’s quite clearly a dive from Diego Costa, who is already on a booking. VAR decided it was outside the box and that the Spaniard shouldn’t be booked. So lucky.

25: Mark Uth quickly realises he’s alone in attack and decides to bend one from distance. Just past the post. Not a bad effort at all from the once-capped Germany international.

23: Since the start of last season, only Cristiano Ronaldo (8) has scored more away goals in the Champions League than Sergio Aguero (7).

21: Could be a long night for Schalke. They don’t look particularly threatening going forward with Mark Uth completely isolated.

SCHALKE 0-1 MANCHESTER CITY | AGUERO

18: Manchester City make the breakthrough – and they have Schalke’s incompetence at the back to thank for it.

The hosts lose their concentration because they think Aymeric Laporte committed a foul in the build-up. He didn’t.

Ralf Fahrmann rolls it out to under-pressure Salif Sane who is quickly robbed by David Silva, who tees up Sergio Aguero for an easy tap-in.

16: No-nonsense stuff from Kevin De Bruyne, who is allowed to drive forward before unleashing a thunderbolt straight at Ralf Fahrmann.

Sergio Aguero follows that up with a deflected effort from inside the penalty area. City’s fifth corner of the evening is cleared.

15: Meow! Martin Keown doesn’t think the pitch is up to scratch. The ball is bobbling a bit because the surface was recently relaid.

Obviously wouldn’t have been acceptable for Keown’s slick and sophisticated style of play…

13: Schalke have to survive 180 minutes of this? No chance. Manchester City have enjoyed over 80 percent possession in the opening 13 minutes. They’ve also had four corners.

The latest corner is again played short but this one is quickly sniffed out.

10: Save! Wonderful, intricate short free-kick from Manchester City. Four quick passes and David Silva is free down the left. His whipped delivery is glanced on by Sergio Aguero – but Ralf Fahrmann arrives with a big hand to tip it over the crossbar.

8: Diego Costa was shouting in the referee’s face after 45 seconds over in the game between Juventus and Atletico Madrid. Glad to see he’s not changed. I kind of miss him actually.

City continue to dominate here as Schalke put all 11 men behind the ball. Not much ambition being shown by the hosts. Can’t really blame them for not playing into City’s hands.

5: Didn’t take long for the red hot Sergio Aguero to have his first opportunity. He cruises through the Schalke centre-backs but can’t connect with De Bruyne’s lofted ball forward.

3: Manchester City haven’t used their second strip tonight. They are in their tradition light blue while Schalke wear their traditional dark blue.

OK, it’s not terribly confusing but most Premier League clubs wear their away strips at every possible opportunity!

SCHALKE 0-0 MANCHESTER CITY

1: We’re underway! Incidentally, the Schalke tunnel is actually shaped like the entrance of a coal mine. I think that’s to honour their mining heritage.

Oh, and the Champions League anthem was booed by Manchester City fans again. Standard.

‘Physical football’

19:57: Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola on BT Sport: “Germany has physical football and has talented players. If you let them run and make mistakes on the ball, it will be difficult to control them. This is the Champions League so any side you face are full of strength and we have to impose ourselves.

“We see the quality in the opponent, especially when we are not used to playing against them.”

Predictions?

19:54: Fresh from my epic 4-2 prediction in the Liverpool match last night – I’m back with another selection.

As I mentioned earlier, I fancy Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho to be booked tonight. That will see them miss the next leg but have their discipline record wiped for the quarter-finals.

And score? I’d have to go for a slender 2-1 win for Manchester City. Let me know what you think in the comments section at the bottom of the page or on twitter using the hashtag #ExpressSport.

Rabbi Matondo

19:50: Just ten minutes until we’re underway folks.

Just enough time to draw your attention to Rabbi Matondo’s place on the Schalke bench this evening.

Matondo spent a couple of seasons in the Manchester City academy before Schalke snapped up his service for £11million in January.

“Of course, Manchester City’s a great football club, great players, great manager, so there’s nothing I could say bad about them,” Matondo said.

“I’m just grateful that Schalke said they’d give me opportunities and that’s what I’m getting right now, more than I would have at City.”

‘We have to give our all’

19:45: Schalke boss Domenico Tedesco: “There is nothing like a knockout match in the Champions League against a team that is one of the best in the world.

“We’ve worked a lot to be able to play such a game and have fun. Logically, we see a chance of winning, but of course we aren’t the favourites.

“Manchester City are a very strong team, we will need a red-letter day and have to give it our all.”

Twitter round-up

Kaiser: If Manchester City keep on being drawn against the weakest team in every round of every competition they might have a chance!

Paul: For those that don’t have BT Sport, Joleon Lescott just said Wayne Rooney told him to leave Everton and join City. He also said he wanted to help build the club’s standing, never expected to win the league etc when we did.

Greg: We all know of the quality of Manchester City. Although the line-up looks a little unbalanced for me. Could be a surprise here!

I have a feeling Kaiser isn’t a Manchester City fan…

Last time out

19:35: Quite a few things have changed since these sides last met in the Europa League group stages in November 2008.

Benjani Mwaruwari and Stephen Ireland were on target in a 2-0 win.

13 players played for Manchester City that night. They are: Hart, Ball, Dunne, Garrido, Hamann, Ireland, Jo, Kompany, Mwaruwari, Richards, Sturridge, Vassell, Wright-Philipps.

Oh, Schalke had Jefferson Farfan, Benedikt Howedes, Manuel Neuer, Rafinha and Ivan Rakitic playing!

How’s that?!

19:30: Wow. The boffins down at Sporting Index have been working hard on this. Perhaps a little too hard if you ask me.

Sporting Index expect Manchester City’s Leroy Sane to break Schalke hearts by scoring in the 76th minute against his former side.

“We’ve seen it on many occasions – players haunting their former sides by scoring against them, and we think Sane could do so tonight,” says Neville Burdock, head of trading at Sporting Index.

“Should he hit the back of the net, we think it could come late in the game when his pace becomes hard to deal with. We predict the 76th minute for that to happen.”

Big claim guys. I’ll make sure I’ve eaten my lasagne by that point.

Team News

19:25: Leroy Sane misses out on a starting place against his former club Schalke.

The Germany winger, a homegrown Schalke youth product who joined City in 2016, starts on the bench for the first leg of the Premier League champions’ last-16 tie at the Veltins Arena.

City have no obvious left-back in their side, suggesting they could either be playing with a back three or that midfielder Fernandinho could drop into defence with Aymeric Laporte moving out wide. Sergio Aguero returns up front.

Former City academy winger Rabbi Matondo, who joined Schalke in January, was on the hosts’ bench.

Getting wise

19:20: Opponents have figured out how to beat Manchester City this season – says midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.

City have looked less formidable in the Premier League compared to last season when they lost only twice in 38 league games to win the title with a record-breaking haul of 100 points.

This season, however, they have already lost four times in 27 games.

“In the league we lost a few more games than we did last year. I think other teams figure out what we do, maybe, a little bit better,” De Bruyne said.

“They maybe also have better squads. We just added one player, the rest is the same team. The way we play is always going to be the same with Pep. We’re not going to change, everybody knows that.”

Twitter round-up

Tim: Pep Guardiola really is taking the p*** out of Phil Foden. Undisputedly a quality player but never going to get the game time at Manchester City to really kick on. Wonder if he’d do the same if he was Spanish?

Jack: So it’s Fernandinho in centre back again. It worked last time out tbf! Good team though that! Come on City!

George: Leroy Sane starts from the bench on his return to the club where he began his career. Not impressed.

Europe’s elite

19:10: Ilkay Gundogan thinks Manchester City must win the Champions League to be considered one of Europe’s elite clubs.

City have won the Premier League three times since the Abu Dhabi United Group bought them in 2008 but have never gone past the semi-final stage of Europe’s premier club competition.

“If you want to be in the international elite… you need to clinch this trophy,” Gundogan said.

“I think that, if we were to win it someday, the club would enter a new era, the same level as Real (Madrid), Barca, Bayern or Juventus, clubs that are maybe a step above us. Maybe not in the way they play football, but as a club at least.”

Honest from the Gun Dog. I would have trotted out the Jose Mourinho line and said that winning the Community Shield makes you an elite club…

The line-ups

19:05: Here come the starting XI’s. Very few surprises in Pep Guardiola’s selection. It looks like he wants this tie over and done with tonight.

Schalke XI: Fahrmann, Caliguiri, Bruma, Sane, Nastasic, Oczikpa, Serdar, Bentaleb, McKennie, Uth, Mendyl.

Subs: Nubel, Rudy, Matondo, Kutucu, Burgstaller, Skrzybski, Harit.

Manchester City XI: Ederson, Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Fernandinho, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Silva, Bernardo, Sterling, Aguero.

Subs: Muric, Danilo, Kompany, Sane, Mahrez, Zinchenko, Foden.

Elsewhere…

19:00: Manchester City aren’t the only ticket in town tonight folks. Not by a long shot.

The other Champions League clash sees Cristiano Ronaldo return to Spain with Juventus for a showdown with Atletico Madrid.

We’ve got LIVE coverage of that match on the website and you can join that by clicking HERE. Shameless plug over…

Upset on the cards?

18:58: Manchester City have lost five of their eight Champions League knockout games away from home, winning two (Dynamo Kiev in February 2016, Basel in February 2018) and drawing one.

Team News?

18:55: Well I had expected Manchester City to release their starting XI by now. Obviously the one-hour rule doesn’t apply in the Champions League… in fact there doesn’t seem to be a rule to help poor bloggers such as myself.

In the meantime, enjoy the John Travolta GIF.

About last night

18:50: Who would have thought that Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Liverpool and Lyon would combine to produce an extremely tedious night of Champions League football.

Expectations of goals here high but we didn’t get a single one from either match. Two goalless draws. Yuck.

On a positive note, Pep Guardiola, Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann aren’t going to let that happen – right?

The tightrope

18:48: Sergio Ramos’ yellow card antics against Ajax have caught my attention.

Ramos is the subject of a UEFA investigation after appearing to admit that he had received a yellow card in last Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg at Ajax Amsterdam on purpose.

Now, it takes three bookings to be suspended for the next match. So… that’s left me wondering if any Manchester City players currently on two bookings could miss the second leg.

The candidates are: Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi.

Got my eye on you, lads.

City fighting on four fronts

18:45: It is another big week for Manchester City as they once again chase an unprecedented quadruple under Pep Guardiola.

City ultimately fell two trophies short last season after a shock FA Cup loss at Wigan was followed by European elimination by Liverpool.

Tonight’s away game against Schalke comes four days before the English champions contest the Carabao Cup final with Chelsea having eased into the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday by beating League Two Newport.

We’ll get on to that a little bit later.

Evening

18:40: Hello everyone and welcome to our LIVE coverage of the Champions League.

Tonight marks the last of the Champions League last-16 first leg ties… if that makes sense.

Manchester City are the last English side flying the flag before the return fixtures and they’ll be fairly confident of taking a lead back to the Etihad Stadium.

After all, Schalke are the lowest-ranked team remaining in the competition…

Anyway, I’ve got tonight’s line-ups coming for you any moment now. Standby.