Real Madrid Gets Precise Payback on Manchester City and Advances to the Champions League Semifinals
After enduring a flurry at the Etihad on Wednesday, Real Madrid exacted vengeance on Manchester City to advance to the Champions League semi-finals 4-3 on penalties.
The match finished even at 1-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring a response for the holders after Rodrygo had given the visitors an early lead.
But Andriy Lunin, Madrid’s improbable hero, stopped penalty kicks from Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic, ending City’s chances of winning the championship.
In an exciting first leg, the Ukrainian, filling in for the injured Thibaut Courtois, was somewhat to blame for City’s early lead, but he more than made up for it.
After Bayern Munich defeated Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate, Madrid will play the German powerhouse in the round of eight.
The 14-time European champions put up a valiant defensive effort to keep City, who had not lost at home in the Champions League since 2018, at bay despite 34 shots on goal.
It’s very challenging. They shift you around and keep probing with the ball. Jude Bellingham, a midfielder for Real Madrid, said, “When City got on top of you, most teams would fall apart, but we stood up really well.”
“Mentality was the deciding factor today.”
Eleven months ago, Madrid lost 4-0 at the Etihad to an early City blitz, and Pep Guardiola’s team went on to win the tournament for the first time.
Two years before, City also prevailed 4-3 at home in a thrilling semi-final first leg, only to be taken aback by a dramatic late comeback by Madrid in the rematch.
Guardiola said, “In other sports, we would win based on the stats, but football is like this and it’s fantastic.”
“Congratulations to Madrid for their outstanding performance in resisting and defending till the very end. In the last pass or shot, we were unable to score.
“I don’t regret anything. We always attempt to produce more and give up less (than the opposition), and we exerted every effort.
On Wednesday, Carlo Ancelotti’s team turned things around with a confident start that was rewarded with the first goal.
Real started to wander down the right after Bellingham expertly snatched the ball out of the sky.
Vinicius Junior found the unmarked Rodrygo, who tapped in the rebound after Ederson, his Brazilian international teammate, parried his first attempt.
Doku creates distinctions.
Even though City took a while to get into the game, they soon had Madrid pinned against the ropes and were unable to score for 76 minutes.
Erling Haaland missed the net for the fourth time in the team’s meeting, but he has seldom been closer than when his looping header struck the crossbar and Silva was unable to react in time to convert the rebound.
Jack Grealish’s attempt was diverted into the side net by the resilient Antonio Rudiger, and Lunin was forced to turn away De Bruyne’s strike from beyond the area.
Before Guardiola traded in the England international for Jeremy Doku’s added speed in the second half, the Madrid goalkeeper stopped two more attempts from Grealish.
That turned out to be a brilliant move because, with 14 minutes remaining, Rudiger mishandled a Doku cross and let De Bruyne slam the ball into the goal.
De Bruyne then fired a magnificent opportunity over, and he should have won the tie on his own.
But in extra time, City’s danger was mitigated by the need to replace both Haaland and De Bruyne.
Real Madrid had the finest opportunity of the extra thirty minutes when Rudiger, having stayed forward from a rare Madrid corner, sliced over with a clean sight of goal.
However, the German defender would still have the last word when he converted the shootout’s last penalty.
Ederson had handed City the lead early on with his stop of Luka Modric.
Silva tried to chip in from the center, but Lunin gathered the ball coolly and stopped Kovacic low to his right.
Bellingham, Lucas Vazquez, and Nacho sent Madrid dangerously close to victory, but Rudiger delivered the last blow to City’s dreams of winning a second straight triple.
