Carl Recine / REUTERS
Dominated and mishandled, Real Madrid managed to eliminate Manchester City (3-3 first leg, 1-1, 3-4 tab) who never managed to realize their domination this Wednesday evening at home, in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League.
Manchester City hosted Real Madrid this Wednesday evening, on the lawn of the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, England, during the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League. A week ago, the two teams engaged in a flamboyant battle on the pitch of the Santiago-Bernabeu stadium with a rich score (3-3) and a changing scenario. Everything remains to be done this Wednesday with the key to a precious ticket for the semi-finals of the competition.
In addition to the poster which naturally smelled of powder, Manchester City and Real Madrid remain on good winning streaks. The Citizens, still undefeated in 2024, have won their last three Premier League meetings. The Merengue are doing slightly better with a series of four consecutive successes in La Liga. Confidence, talent and big stakes tonight at the Etihad Stadium.
In the first period, both teams quickly set up their offensive line very high to put pressure on the respective defenses. After a big sequence of possession of the ball by the Madrilenians who rotated the ball for almost three minutes without losing the ball, Ancelotti’s players managed to open the scoring. All the action started from Andriy Lunin who gave the ball to Nacho. The Spanish full-back tried a huge opening for Jude Bellingham who dribbled past everyone to keep the ball before slipping the leather to Dani Carvajal.
The Spaniard gave a perfect ball to Vinicius who then found Rodrygo in the center. The first attempt was stopped by Ederson but the ball fell to the feet of the Brazilian who finished with his second strike (12th, 0-1). A few minutes later, while serving on the side, Kevin De Bruyne attempted a back cross but Lunin, who had again anticipated well, repelled the danger. The ball returned to the air near Haaland and the Norwegian’s header ended up on the bar of the Ukrainian goalkeeper (19th).
De Bruyne guides the Citizens into extra time
In great pain and forced to make mistakes, Real Madrid, who were leading at the time, hoped not to concede anything, while there were numerous breakthroughs and other offensive incursions on the Manchester side. Manchester City dominated the proceedings with many good opportunities but Madrid’s defense held on. Ancelotti’s players showed realism and lethal efficiency. In the second half, Manchester City continued to put their foot on the ball with great intensity. The shots continued to multiply, as did the corners, but Andriy Lunin kept pace without trembling.
The Citizens were still pushing. The minutes followed one another and were similar. Real Madrid were dominated but remained solid and cautious in defense until the equalizer. A quarter of an hour from the end of the match, Manchester City equalized in the wake of Kevin De Bruyne (76th, 1-1). Served with a long ball, Jérémy Doku played against the Madrid defense and attempted a strong cross at ground level which was very poorly cleared by Antonio Rüdiger. The ball returned to the feet of De Bruyne who placed a shot under the bar. Despite several final strikes from the Belgian, the two teams were unable to decide between themselves and therefore headed to overtime.
During these two 15-minute periods, Manchester City continued to play and Andriy Lunin repelled all attempts. No big change compared to the second half. Physical fatigue was logically felt a little. The Cityzens increased their intensity to try to make the difference. Real Madrid retreated, taking no risks to wait for the TAB session. More than 120 minutes were not enough despite the domination of Manchester City to decide between the two teams. Everything depended on the penalties won by the Merengues. However, it started badly with Luka Modric’s miss but missed attempts from Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovačić sealed Madrid’s victory. With this result, Real Madrid joins Bayern Munich in the semi-finals.