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Typical pose: Cheering City players
Photograph:
Jon Super / AP
The revenge: Real Madrid seemed to have been beaten long ago and yet came back. Like the villain in a horror movie who can't be killed. Shortly before the final whistle, the royals scored two goals out of nowhere, and in the end they reached the final of the Champions League against Manchester City, who had been superior until then. That was the case last season. Now things have gone differently. Again, Real were behind, but this time the defending champions found no remedy against an almost overpowering opponent from Manchester. City have managed to take revenge, Madrid has reached its limits.
Result: Manchester City won 4-0 (2-0), the first leg in Madrid ended 1-1. Real are out, the English are in the final and meet Inter Milan. Click here for the match report.
The first half: Champions League semi-finals are some of the best professional football has to offer. But those 45 minutes weren't a top game. Because this requires two teams on an equal footing. In Manchester, it was almost only the hosts who played, Erling Haaland missed three very good chances in the first 20 minutes alone. Bernardo Silva did better, scoring twice (23rd and 36th minutes). Toni Kroos hit the crossbar from around 25 yards, after all. That's all Real was able to do. At half-time, the shooting ratio was 13:1.
The world-class player who is hardly talked about: Whenever it really counts, Pep Guardiola relies on Bernardo Silva. The Portuguese has been playing for City for six years now, but he is far from the glory of Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland. Bernardo Silva is a master of pressing, he hardly ever loses a ball, but he is not really a man for goals or assists. Actually. At 1-0, he received the ball from De Bruyne on the right side of the penalty area, he looked at the far corner and shot into the short, so he beat the hitherto indomitable Thibaut Courtois in the Real goal. Later, he headed a rebound past David Alaba into the goal. This time, Bernardo Silva deserved the glory.
Pride and Advantage: Toni Kroos, Luka Modrić, Karim Benzema and the other Real grandees, they are among the biggest names in modern football, they have won the Champions League so many times, fought battles, performed miracles. And now they had been paraded for 45 minutes. You could tell the team's wounded pride as they came out of the dressing room. Now the players pressed much higher, they took considerably more risks. But the Madrid veterans had too little to counter City's class. Advantage Manchester.
The second half: Despite the more offensive style of play, Real hardly managed to create chances. David Alaba failed with a free kick from some distance to City goalkeeper Ederson, Benzema and substitute Lucas Vázquez finished in quick succession (83rd), but then it was already 3-0: Madrid's Éder Militão had deflected the ball into his own goal after a free-kick cross from De Bruyne (76th). Earlier, Haaland had hit the crossbar. And in the end, Julián Álvarez provided the final score after Phil Foden's assist.
When the best isn't yourself: Last season, Real won the Champions League thanks largely to Karim Benzema. The French striker scored 15 goals in the competition and was subsequently awarded the Ballon d'Or. But this season, Benzema is not the same. In the premier class, he managed only four goals. Against City, he lacked more than just a goal threat, Benzema hardly made any balls, the game almost completely passed him by. Real would have so desperately needed a player in attack who could have lifted them up.
Ancelottis Poker: In the first leg, Antonio Rüdiger had won his duel with star striker Erling Haaland. Real's defender annoyed the Norwegian, he gave him trouble with the tightest cover. In the second leg, however, the international remained on the bench for the time being. Returnee Militão played in the centre of defence – and scored an own goal. Coach Carlo Ancelotti's decision to call up Eduardo Camavinga at left-back was also not a successful one. The young Frenchman was tricked again and again. Ancelotti is one of the most successful coaches in the world, with his 191st Champions League game he is the sole record holder ahead of Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson. But this record-breaking game wasn't his best.
Guardiola's chance: Pep Guardiola has been waiting for his third triumph in the Champions League for twelve years. Neither with FC Bayern nor with City had he succeeded in doing what he did twice in Barcelona in his first three years as coach. But now the title in the premier class seems close. City have been showing world-class performances for months. His team can control the game, they always have, but thanks to Haaland, they are now also a force on the counterattack. In the final against Inter Milan, on June 10 in Istanbul, City is the clear favorite.