Fernando Llorente, Spurs Knock Manchester City out of UCL in Wild Return Leg

Tottenham Hotspur booked their spot in the semi-finals of the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, despite losing to Manchester City 4-3 in an incredible all-English tie. The aggregate score was 4-4, and Spurs advanced on away goals.

Raheem Sterling gave the hosts a dream start, but three more goals would be scored before 12 minutes had been played. A quick Heung-min Son double after two mistakes from Aymeric Laporte gave the advantage to Spurs, before Bernardo Silva tied things up.

Sterling restored the lead after just 21 minutes, and Sergio Aguero's goal, coming off Kevin De Bruyne's third assist, had City ahead on aggregate in the 59th minute. Substitute Fernando Llorente then bagged what would turn out to be the winner in the 73rd minute following a check for handball by the video assistant referee. Sterling appeared to score the dagger in stoppage time but had the goal called back by VAR, a thrilling conclusion to a great contest.

Subscribe to the B/R Football Ranks podcast: iTunes, Spotify     

Spurs had won last week's first leg 1-0 at home but were without the injured Harry Kane for the return leg. They will face Ajax in the semi-finals after the Dutch side beat Juventus on Tuesday.

Guardiola's De Bruyne Benching in First Leg Cost City Semi-Final Ticket

City and their fans will have plenty of culprits to point the finger at for their quadruple hopes ending―most notably the video assistant, who took away Sterling's last-gasp goal and allowed Llorente's winner―but all of this likely could have been avoided if manager Pep Guardiola hadn't out-smarted himself in the first leg.

Starting Fabian Delph at full-back was a mistake, and the converted midfielder spent much of the contest chasing ghosts. But the far bigger error was keeping De Bruyne on the bench as long as he did, and the Belgian made that very clear on Wednesday.

Sterling may have scored twice, but it was the former Wolfsburg and Chelsea man who ran the show. His stats were phenomenal:

De Bruyne deservedly drew praise for his outstanding performance:

Ultimately, this tie came down to away goals, and it would be difficult to believe this City, which ran through Spurs' defence like a knife through butter with De Bruyne, wouldn't have scored at Tottenham's new ground.

Guardiola made more questionable decisions in this tie, including benching John Stones for the return leg―Laporte seemed far from comfortable without him by his side―and not bringing on Sane when the score was 4-2 and Spurs were reeling and seemingly ripe for the picking.

He also kept Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez on the bench, opting not to use his third substitute on Wednesday and go for broke.

But taking on Spurs on the road without De Bruyne for the bulk of the contest was by far his biggest mistake, and his overthinking his squad in that match cost City a shot at the quadruple.

What's Next?

The two teams will rematch at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday.