On the way to the semi-finals of the Champions League, Real Madrid managed to create two of the brightest sensations and alternately knock out one of the favorites of the tournament in the face of Paris Saint-Germain, as well as the current trophy holder Chelsea.
But in order to repeat the achievement of 2019 and again break into the decisive stage, it was necessary to overcome an even more difficult test and beat one of the strongest teams on the planet at the moment.
And this was hard to believe not only for fans, but also for bookmakers.
They called Manchester City the clear favorite - and not only because the "townspeople" played the first match at their native Etihad.
Madrid were opposed by the leader of the championship of England and the finalist of last year's Champions League, as well as one of the best teams of the season among the representatives of the top 5 leagues in many advanced metrics.
In terms of expected goals scored and conceded, only Bayern and Liverpool could compare with City, but the former played in a much less competitive championship, while others were at least a little, but weaker.
In addition, the position of the "creamy" was complicated by the absence of Casemiro, who was supposed to have the main task of containing the attacking midfielders of the opponent - Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva.
The Brazilian missed the La Liga meeting with Osasuna due to muscle problems, but this time he remained on the bench.
A day before the starting whistle, Carlo Ancelotti said that in the confrontation with Manchester City, the most important aspect would be playing on the defensive.
According to the mentor, his players need to be compact and defend confidently, otherwise they cannot do without problems.
And at first, Real Madrid did not succeed at all.
From the very first minutes, he began to make mistakes in his own half and by the 11th minute he conceded twice.
At first, Federico Valverde, who was called to replace Casemiro, missed De Bruyne's spurt behind his back and only watched the Belgian score a header in the fall.
And then David Alaba failed.
The Austrian could not knock the ball from Gabriel Jesus and allowed him to "shoot" Thibault Courtois from the goalkeeper's area.
It might seem that by the 30th minute the outcome of the confrontation would be decided.
Being in a state of "groggy" guests, by inertia, ran to recoup, but completely forgot about protection.
After lightning strikes, both Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden could score, but both did not use excellent chances and forced Guardiola to grab his head.
But the miracles of realization were once again demonstrated by one of the main contenders for the title of the best player of the season in Europe.
Karim Benzema failed to throw the ball past Oleksandr Zinchenko, but did not switch off from the episode and after a few seconds he rematched.
The Frenchman broke away from the Ukrainian who was guarding him, put the body to the opponent, after which he irresistibly struck from the pass of Florent Mendy.
Ederson stretched out into a string, but the volley turned out to be too insidious and accurate.
After that, the coaches fully entered the game.
But in both cases, the replacements were rather forced.
Guardiola exchanged the limping John Stones for Fernandinho in the first half, and Ancelotti made a reshuffling at half-time - and also in the center of defense.
Alaba, who made a fatal mistake, was replaced by Nacho Fernandez.
As Ancelotti admitted at a press conference, David had health problems and, along with Casemiro, could miss the away meeting with City.
However, the loss of the Stones and Alaba did not change the balance of power on the field much.
Real Madrid still couldn't find a balance between attack and defense and regularly paid the price for trying to push forward with big forces.
It is all the more surprising that it was not the numerous counter attacks from Manchester City that led to the goals conceded.
First, the hosts covered the enemy with great counterpressing and helped Foden realize one of the many chances, and then Silva lit his name on the scoreboard.
At the same time, the fourth goal of the “citizens” turned out to be in many ways curious.
A second before that, Toni Kroos rudely demolished Zinchenko not far from the penalty area, but the chief referee Istvan Kovacs allowed the episode to finish.
The guests, led by Courtois, were confused, and Bernardo irresistibly struck in the top nine.
In the interval between scoring attacks, City scored and Real Madrid.
True, only once.
Vinicius easily removed Fernandinho and made a dash for 40 meters, after which he dealt with Ederson.
But over time, Madrid noticeably wilted.
Replacing Rodrigo with Eduardo Camavinga limited the potential of Madrid at the gates of others, and the appearance of Dani Ceballos instead of Luka Modric was akin to capitulation.
Ten minutes before the end of regular time, the guests were left without the main creative, lost 2:4 and scored only 0.65 of the expected goal - almost four times less than the opponents (2.43).
It was hard to believe that in the second leg Real Madrid was able to win back such a big gap.
The last time City missed such an advantage was in the Champions League play-offs in 2017, when they were sensationally beaten by Monaco in the round of 16.
True, then the fate of the ticket was decided by goals on a foreign field.
Wards of Guardiola won at home 5:3, and away were beaten 1:3.
In this case, it was impossible to count on a repetition of the plot, and a victory by three goals seemed an overly optimistic forecast.
And at that moment Aymeric Laporte came to the aid of the guests.
Previously, the central defender did not realize a 100% moment in the opponent's penalty area, and then he made a mistake in his own.
In the process of horseback fighting, he unsuccessfully put out his hand and touched it with a flying ball.
The chief referee did not even need a video replay to point to the point.
Benzema expectedly approached her and mockingly dealt with Ederson.
Karim scored for the 14th time in the current Champions League draw and took the lead in the scorers race.
In the remaining time, Manchester City could restore the status quo, but Real Madrid persevered.
Ancelotti's team again showed character and, although they could not snatch a draw, they retained the chances of reaching the final.