1,000 vs. 200: the millions and the four City-Madrid crosses that explain an entire footballing decade

• Champions The black hole of Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola

• Manchester City Guardiola's relationship with Real Madrid: from the "fucking master" and the "athletes" to some scary numbers

• Guardiola "We have to learn from the culture of Madrid"

• Ancelotti "There are two teams that nobody thought to be here: Madrid and Villarreal"

The four crosses between

are the chronicle of a decade.

A minuscule but key part in the life of the whites and the footballing adolescence of the

, pushed to sporting maturity thanks to the petrodollars of the

.

Ten years that explain the fight between the old and the new world order of the ball and that they will find in this semifinal tie a new attempt by the British to destroy part of the Madrid legacy, fireproof during this time despite the money invested by Sheikh

.

After the initial financial 'punch' between 2007 and 2010, with the signings of

or

, from

Manchester

has spent

euros and has sold players for a total of

, so spending Net has been

.

A hundred 'kilos' per season.

All to win

, reach, and lose, a

final and play another two semi-finals.

a final vs.

Four champions

Meanwhile, in that time, Madrid has bought for

and has collected

of its sales, so

in two decades.

In his showcase,

,

and

.

An outrage that further increases the anger of the sheikhs and that sums up perfectly that more money does not always ensure more titles.

Something different is needed.

If we extend this balance of income expenses in the last decade to all the European teams, we find that City is by far the one that has left the most bills, ahead of

(1,590),

(1,580),

(1,540) and

(1,410).

Madrid, meanwhile, is the

but the one that provides a better

among the greats of the continent.

A negative of

, only surpassed by the

.

Even teams like Everton (-313), Tottenham (-226), Arsenal (-604), Inter (-241) or Napoli (-241) have left more.

The City 'knew' the comebacks

A few million white and blue that have been found on the pitch at specific times in the last decade.

It happened at the beginning of it, in the

, it reached a key point in the

, it split due to the pandemic in the

and it is now time, repeating the semifinals, one of his moments of ecstasy.

There are four clashes that perfectly explain the survival of Real Madrid in the Champions League and the evolution of Manchester City in it.

In 2012-2013, the British team discovered in person how the

.

He arrived at Chamartín after having won his first Premier in four decades, led by

on the bench and

on the pitch.

It was his first major continental challenge, showing against

, who had just lifted the famous '

', that he was ready to fight in Europe.

And it failed.

Two goals from

in 1987 and 1990 they served for the Whites to win 3-2 at the buzzer and assume leadership of a group that they would govern five games later.

"This is Madrid.

", Mourinho would say that night, in a phrase that is still remembered today in the capital.

City, unable to win in Manchester in the second leg (1-1), could not even qualify for the

in a group with

and

.

That year he knew what the European Cup was.

Three seasons later,

led the

to the first semifinals in their history.

They beat

in the petrodollar quarters and stood up against

after having spent 150 million in the summer to sign, among others,

.

The house kept jumping for the advantage for the Champions League, with more money than projects, and the Bernabéu passed sentence in the second leg after a goal from

in his own door.

It was the end of Pellegrini at the Etihad and the previous step to the whites' second European crown in three years.

De Bruyne, Sterling and Fernandinho hang on

Of those squads

for Madrid and only

for City, symptomatic of what has happened in recent years.

While Madrid has been making small tweaks to their wardrobe while maintaining the eternal backbone, in Manchester, already with

, they have moved the tree as much as possible to reach a continental altar that still resists them.

In the second round of 2020, the last touchstone between the two, a Madrid between the wars, still assuming the

's injuries and

's little commitment

, fought at the Bernabéu until the final stretch of the duel and had opportunities in Manchester to put fear in the body of the English.

It didn't help because of those two mistakes by

on the lap

and the expulsion of

in the first leg, but the whites were alive, in a survival exercise that they have repeated in recent times.

All to reach the semifinals that will be

, the one that has governed Europe

and that we will see if he continues to do so when his own change of guard occurs.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Cristiano Ronaldo

• Gareth Bale

• Marcelo

• Daniel Carvajal

• Casemiro

• Luka modric

• Isco Alarcon

• Zinedine Zidane

• real Madrid