Despite Rodrygo’s opening goal in the 12th minute, Real Madrid suffered on Manchester City’s pitch.
The poster was seen as the final before its time. So his actors made sure to stretch the suspense as much as possible to be sure to attract all the attention. The Champions League quarter-final second leg between Manchester City and Real Madrid – the last two winners of the competition – turned in favor of the Spaniards, winners on penalties this Wednesday at the end of the night (1-1, 3- 4 tab).
The two teams were unable to decide between themselves after the crazy first leg at Santiago Bernabéu (3-3). They also failed to do so at the Etihad Stadium after 120 minutes. So we had to go through the fateful penalty session. And in the exercise, Pep Guardiola’s team failed, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic missing their attempt.
The English champion nevertheless led the debates in the game all evening. His stifling possession of the ball (68%), and his number of shots attempted (33) illustrate his outrageous domination. But he came up against a rock, whose plan, now seen and revised, remains no less formidable.
As it has demonstrated so often for several years in the Champions League, Real Madrid gave in but did not break. On the offensive side, he showed almost nothing, apart from Rodrygo’s goal – scored in two stages – which allowed him to open the scoring in the 12th minute.
Behind, he was content to defend the lead and only gave in once: Kevin De Bruyne took advantage of a bad dismissal from Antonio Rüdiger at 5.50 to shoot Andriy Lunin from close range (76th).
The Ukrainian goalkeeper – usual projected replacement starter due to the serious injury of Thibaut Coutois – had postponed the deadline several times, intervening in front of De Bruyne the first time in the 27th then in front of Jack Grealish (47th). Erling Haaland hit the bar (19th). After the equalizer, City continued to push and came close to taking the lead. Omnipresent, De Bruyne pushed Lunin into a spectacular flight to repel a wrapped shot (78th). In the process, the Belgian leader missed a mountain by missing the target at close range (82nd). Without realizing it, City had just missed their chance.
Short of energy, he failed to force the decision into overtime, against Madrilenians satisfied with the scenario. On penalties, Lunin pulled out all the stops again, deflecting attempts from Silva and Kovacic, erasing Luka Modric’s initial failure.
As in 2022, Real dismisses Manchester City and erases its disappointment last year against the same opponent. He will appear in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the 12th time in 14 years and remains hopeful of lifting a 15th Big Ears Cup. Dizzy.
Kimmich delivers Bayern Munich
In the other semi-final of the evening, the suspense was not stretched as long. Neck and neck with Arsenal after the draw in London last week (2-2), Bayern Munich came close by winning in their Allianz Arena (1-0).
The first period gave rise to a tactical, balanced opposition. The Bavarians obtained the first hot situation, Jamal Musiala pushing David Raya to parry with a strike from the edge of the area (24th). The Gunners responded twice, Martin Odegaard tapping Manuel Neuer with a long-range attempt (29th) before serving on a Martinelli board who, at the penalty point, crushed his recovery (31st).
Bayern – whose hegemony in the German championship ended last weekend with the victory of Bayer Leverkusen – made the difference in a second act where they were dominant. Leon Goretzka and Raphaël Guerreiro caused a big scare on the London goals by hitting the posts in quick succession from the restart (47th).
After the hour mark, the second-named sent a cross into the area on which Joshua Kimmich threw himself with an angry header to unlock the score (63rd)
From experience, facing the Gunners who returned to the quarter-finals of the competition after 14 years of absence at this level of the competition, Bayern punched their ticket to the last four. He can dream of a joyful spring, in contrast to his dull season nationally.