Il Real Madrid surpasses the Manchester City on penalties in the second leg of the quarter-finals of Champions League and wins a place in the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year. Los Blancos broke the deadlock in the 12th minute with a strike Rodrygothen they undergo the very long siege of the Citizens who in the end find their equal De Bruyne, equaling the result of the spectacular 3-3 in the first leg and taking it to extra time. From the spot, however, Ancelotti’s men emerged victorious, thanks to the saves of a super The moon and the decisive goal of Rudiger: the next opponent will be the Bayern Monaco.
THE MATCH
Despite expectations, the pace at the start is rather low, with the teams studying each other and alternating possession without ever forcing the play. However, in the 12th minute one opens gaping hole in City’s defence and Real took advantage of it immediately: everything started from one Bellingham’s fantastic control on a long ball from the backthe ball arrives at Vinicius which crosses in the centre, Walker it goes in vain, Ederson miraculous on Rodrygo’s safe shotma he can’t do anything about the Brazilian’s tap-in. The home team’s reaction is furious and in the 19th minute they come one step away from an immediate equalizer: the strike from Haaland it is printed on the crossbar, Bernard Silva he finds the ball at his feet a stone’s throw from the goal line but controls poorly and devours the opportunity. At 27′ it’s a torpedo from outside De Bruyne to scare the Blancos, but The moon he is attentive and extends it to the corner. Guardiola’s boys completely pour into the opponent’s half of the field, in the 36th minute a shot from Haaland frees Grealish to the shot, but Rudiger is good at coming back and walling him in the corner. Real is totally confined in their own half of the field, they suffer, but they risk little and go into the break with a goal lead.
In the second half the score does not change. City attack with 10 men, without worrying too much about head turns in the open field, which are actually quite rare. The pressure from the hosts seems unsustainable, but Los Blancos allow very little space and even when Manchester finds an opening there is Lunin always careful to lock the door. Guardiola then plays his card Tissuewho a few minutes after his entrance is decisive: his cross from the left is badly rejected by Rudigerthe ball ends up on the foot of De Bruyne che she arrogantly scores the deserved equaliser. The Belgian is unleashed and shortly after goes twice close to a doublefirst with a big left from outsidewhich whistles just over the crossbar, then with a right-footed shot from the heart of the area, incredibly tall. Despite the efforts of the Citizens the result did not change and in the 95th minute Orsato sends the match to extra time.
He has the best chance in the first half Rudiger in the last minute of injury time, but his left foot is a bit awkward and ends up high. In the second the energy is now at its lowest, City continues to play the game, but they no longer find any jolts and in the end they are forced to play it on penaltieswho will smile at the Spaniards. Guardiola’s dream of a second treble in a row fades away.
REPORT CARDS
De Bruyne 7 – In the first half he doesn’t shine, but in the second half he takes center stage and literally takes the team on his shoulders, until the goal that puts an evening back on its feet which had been haunted until then.
Grealish 6,5 – In the offensive package he is by far the liveliest. His teammates are constantly looking for him, he always targets the man, tries more than one shot from outside, but despite his efforts he is unable to break Real’s resistance.
Haaland 5 – A crossbar hit in the first half, then a long battle with the Real defenders, but no other chance to hurt. Too little for a man who scored 83 goals in less than two seasons with City.
Rodrygo 6.5 – Like all of Real’s attack, he has to play a game of great sacrifice, but he has the great merit of breaking the deadlock after a few minutes, directing it on the right tracks despite the suffering.
Bellingham 5,5 – The stop that led to the 0-1 goal alone is worth the price of the ticket, but then it is totally eclipsed from the match, also because it finds itself acting as an advanced point of reference for a team that essentially defends itself to the bitter end.
Lunar 7.5 – In the 120′ he doesn’t have to perform real miracles, but he is always attentive and reactive when called upon. On penalties he becomes the hero of the evening, first collecting the kind homage of Bernardo Silva, then surpassing that of Modric.
THE SEQUENCE OF PENALTY
Alvarez (M) – gol
Modric (R) – saved
Bernard Silva (M) – saved
Bellingham (R) – gol
Kovacic (M) – saved
Vasquez (R) – gol
The foot (M) – gol
Nacho (R) – gol
Ederson (M) – gol
Rudiger (R) – gol
THE SCORESHEET
Manchester City-Real Madrid 4-5 d.c.r.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ederson 6.5; Walker 6, Akanji 7 (7′ sts Stones sv), Slide 6, Guardiol 6.5; Rodri, De Bruyne 7 (7′ sts Kovacic sv); Bernardo Silva 5.5, Foden 5.5, Grealish 6.5 (27′ st Doku 7); Haland 5 (1 pts Alvarez 6).
Trainer: Guardiola 6
Real Madrid (4-3-3): Lunin 7,5; Carvajal 6 (5′ sts Militao sv), Rudiger 6,5, Nacho 6,5, Mendy 6; Valverde 5,5, Camavinga 5,5, Kroos 6 (34′ st Modric 5,5); Rodrygo 6,5 (39′ st Diaz 6), Bellingham 5,5, Vinicius 5,5 (12′ pts Vasquez 5,5).
Trainer: Ancelotti 6
Referee: Bearded
Markers: 12′ Rodrygo (R), 31′ st De Bruyne (M)
Warned: Carvajal (R), Grealish (M), Gvardiol (M), Rodri (M), Mendy (R)
Expelled:
THE STATISTICS
– Real Madrid has qualified for the semi-finals of the European Cup/Champions League for the 33rd time in its history: 12 times more than any other club (Bayern Munich, 21).
– Real Madrid have reached the semi-finals for the 12th time in a row in which they have participated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
– Carlo Ancelotti qualified for the Champions League semi-finals for the 10th time: no one has done better in the history of the competition (even City manager Pep Guardiola at 10).
– Real Madrid have not lost any of the last 58 Champions League matches (50W, 8L) in which they ended the first half ahead. Los Blancos’ last defeat after being ahead in the first 45 minutes of the match came against Galatasaray in April 2013 (1-0 at half-time, then lost 2-3).
– For the first time since the 2011/12 edition, three matches were decided by a penalty shootout, following those between Arsenal-Porto and Atlético Madrid-Inter last March.
– Manchester City lost a match in a European competition for the first time since May 2022, against Real Madrid in the Champiosn League; since then, 23 games without defeat (16W, 7N)
– Excluding the Champions League final against Atlético Madrid in 2016, Real Madrid went through in a knockout phase in the penalty shootout for the second time in the European Cup/UCL, after the one against Juventus, in the 1986 round of 16.
– Rodrygo is, together with Kylian Mbappé, only one of two players to have scored at least 5 goals in each of the last three Champions League seasons (five in each of the three for the Brazilian).
– Rodrygo scored four goals for Real Madrid against Manchester City: personal best against a single opponent in all competitions for Los Blancos. The Brazilian was also the first player to score in both legs of the Champions League knockout phase against Citizen since Karim Benzema in the 2021-22 semi-finals (again with Real Madrid).
– Kevin De Bruyne took part in eight goals (4 goals, 4 assists) against Real Madrid in the Champions League: no one did better than the Belgian (also Giovane Élber, 4G+4A).
– Kevin De Bruyne was involved in 24 goals (13 goals, 11 assists) for Manchester City in the Champions League knockout phase: more than any player from an English team in the competition (surpassing Wayne Rooney’s 23 for Manchester United ).
– All of Kevin De Bruyne’s last 11 Champions League goals have been scored in the knockout stages of the competition (four in the round of 16, four in the quarter-finals and three in the semi-finals).