Man City self-destruct in Madrid as Rodrygo’s late double and Karim Benzema’s extra-time penalty see Real produce ANOTHER miracle Champions League comeback to set up Liverpool final
It was there. Within their grasp. So close, they could almost feel it. So close, they could picture the stadium, decked in sky blue and red on May 28. Liverpool versus…
And that’s where the dream died. It will not be Manchester City, creating a third all-English final in four years. Real Madrid will meet Liverpool in Paris. Real Madrid somehow rose from the dead and made that match. They were 5-3 down on aggregate in the final minute of normal time; and 6-5 up five minutes into extra time. It was the first time they had led across two entire ties: the 185th minute of the match.
Manchester City, in Europe. What is to become of them? Nothing is ever simple. Nothing straightforward. How did they lose this, having played so well on the night?
The first was cleared off the line, the second sent wide by the merest touch from Thibaut Courtois in goal. And then they were out, gone. They had silenced the Bernabeu, won the game. Why always them?
Yet credit Real Madrid, too. Credit them for never knowing when they are beaten.
Rodrygo wrested it from City. A second-half substitute for Toni Kroos. He scored twice. Once in the final minute of the game for what looked to be a consolation, then a minute later. City were stunned. They had been the better side for almost all of this tie. How could this be?
The first was cleared off the line, the second sent wide by the merest touch from Thibaut Courtois in goal. And then they were out, gone. They had silenced the Bernabeu, won the game. Why always them?
Yet credit Real Madrid, too. Credit them for never knowing when they are beaten.
Rodrygo wrested it from City. A second-half substitute for Toni Kroos. He scored twice. Once in the final minute of the game for what looked to be a consolation, then a minute later. City were stunned. They had been the better side for almost all of this tie. How could this be?
Yet as the game wore on, City’s defensive strength came increasingly to the fore. It is possible to think them flaky, shipping three goals at home, but here was the team we saw in this city last month, against Atletico.
Benzema barely had a shot; Ederson barely had a serious save to make until the game was almost concluded. Kyle Walker, playing through the pain barrier, was quite brilliant against Vinicius Junior until he limped off with 20 minutes remaining. He could not have done any more.
Pep Guardiola (right) made what appeared sensible changes. Ilkay Gundogan for Kevin De Bruyne was one. A goalless draw was progress, What we have, we hold. Yet it is never simple like that, for City. No sooner had they switched to shore up the game, City scored.
What a set-up by Bernardo Silva. He ran storming through the middle, the heart of the Bernabeu, drawing opponents, creating space. Gabriel Jesus was on, and looked the obvious ball.
But this is City, so Silva ignored it and went for something far harder. Telepathically, he sensed Riyad Mahrez arriving like a train. He bypassed Jesus and played him in instead. Mahrez’s shot was so powerful it did not matter that it was relatively near to Courtois in goal. He was powerless to prevent it. Mahrez’s seventh in the competition, a record for City in this competition. Not that anyone will remember now. Some think that being the manager of Real Madrid is just a case of getting 11 players on the field and letting them fly, that Carlo Ancelotti’s laidback demeanour was the result of having it, well, easy. Here was a half of football that showed why a coach gets the Real Madrid gig.
It’s not easy playing the best teams in the world; it’s not easy matching Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
Yet that’s what Ancelotti did, in the opening 45 minutes. He took a team that had the beating of Real Madrid a week ago and, for the most part, nullified them.
He kept De Bruyne quiet; he used Luka Modric to stop Rodri bringing the ball out of the back; he limited the impact of Mahrez, who went into this game a goal short of Manchester City’s most prolific Champions League campaign. Phil Foden was a handful but, then, he so often is. Looking at the player now, how smartly did Guardiola handle that young man’s development?