An ultra-defensive Real Madrid at times made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. The decision against Manchester City came on penalties, in which City failed twice. In the end it was 4:3 in favor of Real. The first leg ended 3-3. The goals in regular time were scored by Rodrygo for Madrid (12th) and Kevin de Bruyne for Manchester (76th).
City coach Pep Guardiola did without goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who was still on the pitch in the first leg, and relied on regular keeper Ederson. At Real Madrid, however, Toni Kroos and Antonio Rüdiger were in the starting line-up.
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Taste for 12 minutes, then give it a full squeeze
While the two teams had an exciting 3-3 draw in the first leg, the second game in Manchester got off to a somewhat quieter start. But not even a quarter of an hour. Then Rodrygo used a low cross from Vinicius Junior from close range (12th).
After the goal, this game also picked up a lot of momentum. City immediately pushed for an equalizer. And they immediately created some great opportunities through Bernardo Silva (17th) and especially Erling Haaland, who only hit the crossbar with a header (19th).
De Bruyne scores the deserved equalizer
City now dominated the game and had chances every minute – de Bruyne with a dangerous shot (27th), Haaland at the second post (28th), Grealish into the side netting (36th). But Madrid always remained dangerous with counterattacks. The fast Vinicius Junior in particular was a constant threat.
After the break, the English continued to apply pressure. City pushed Madrid onto the defensive and nothing more came from the Spaniards offensively. Quite the opposite: Real were grateful for every interruption in the game and made the most of it. But that only went well until the 76th minute, when Kevin de Bruyne took advantage of Rüdiger’s unsuccessful attempt to clear the ball to a well-deserved equalizer.
De Bruyne was now in the mood to shoot – but the Belgian left two “hundred percent” shots unused (78th, 82nd). So the game went into overtime.
City also dominated extra time
And here too the game can only go in one direction – towards the Real Madrid goal. The Madrilenians barely got over the halfway line. City literally besieged the opponent’s penalty area, had almost 70 percent ball possession and 18:1 corners.
Nevertheless, Real Madrid had an excellent opportunity through Antonio Rüdiger (105th) and ultimately saved themselves in a penalty shootout.
Rüdiger makes the decision perfect
There, Luka Modric missed Real’s first penalty – City goalkeeper Ederson parried the unplaced shot, but was only able to be happy about it for a short time because Bernardo Silva also showed nerves – his harmless penalty in the middle of the goal was no problem for the Real goalkeeper Andrei Lunin, who simply stood there. And then Lunin saved Mateo Kovacic’s following attempt.
Antonio Rüdiger finally converted the last penalty. Real are in the semi-finals and will face FC Bayern there.