English striker Raheem Sterling contributed significantly to Manchester City's victory at the expense of Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League final.
Sterling scored the first goal in the match that ended in favor of City (2-1), a result that guaranteed the team a pass to the quarter-finals.
GOAL! ⚽ M M @RealMadriden 1-0
Sloppy Real allow Sterling to open the scoring!
Live ➡️ https://t.co/hIN36z6LVC#beINUCL #UCL #ManchesterCityRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/OSNulqEHWf
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) August 7, 2020
Former player Gary Lineker revealed a special plan that Sterling resorted to in order to motivate himself before confronting the royal club, and said that the English striker had asked the British "BT" channel for footage of Manchester City's confrontation with Tottenham in the Champions League quarter-final second leg last season.
The first-leg match between the two teams ended with Tottenham's 1-0 victory, and Manchester City won at home 4-3, but that was not enough to guarantee the pass that returned to Tottenham, who reached the final at a later time, and lost to Liverpool.
The result would have been different if Sterling had scored a goal in the final seconds, but the referee rejected it after returning to the mouse technique.
On his return to that confrontation, Sterling sought to regain the feelings of bitterness from losing a confrontation that was within reach, in order to prepare well for the confrontation of Real Madrid.
Sterling scored 6 goals in 8 matches with Manchester City in the Champions League during this season, and is preparing to travel with his team to Lisbon to participate in the final rounds of the tournament, starting with the French Lyon meeting in the quarter-final next Saturday.