Stand: 10.05.2023
“We’re not scared. We’re going to Manchester to win”
Manchester City are happy about the draw in the semi-final first leg. The Royals also agreed with the result. Defender Dani Carvajal has already made a declaration of war on the Citizens.
Real Madrid versus Manchester City – that’s all there is to it in world football at the moment. In the first part of the giant meeting there are two dream goals, but no winner. Real’s Antonio Rüdiger, who took Erling Haaland out of the game, knows the winning formula for the second leg.
Antonio Rüdiger simply let Ilkay Gündogan bounce off him. After the duel between the German national players in the first part of the giant meeting between Real Madrid and Manchester City, Gündogan needed a few minutes to get back on his feet. He came back on the pitch and provided the assist for Kevin de Bruyne’s 1-1 equalizer in the second half. It was one of the few English chances that otherwise failed again and again due to Real’s perfectly organized defense around Rüdiger and former Bayern player David Alaba.
After the 1-1 draw, City are slight favorites going into the second leg, which will be played in Manchester on 17 May. But Real, who showed a tactical masterstroke against City over large parts, will have to be reckoned with. Rüdiger and Alaba did what almost no defender duo has managed to do this season. They took Manchester miracle striker Erling Haaland out of the game. The Norwegian was attacked alternately by the two as soon as he received the ball and didn’t have a significant chance to score for the 90 minutes.
Alaba (l) successfully tackles Erling Haaland
Which: dpa/Manu Fernandez
“This is a credit to the whole team. Haaland can’t do that much on his own, we sent the passers on,” said Rüdiger. Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, in particular, repeatedly stopped City’s flow of the game.
“Most difficult away game in European football”
“Maybe it’s okay somewhere, we might have been closer,” said David Alaba on Amazon Prime Video. “We have the opportunity to make it 2-0 and then the whole thing looks a little different. Now we’re 1-1, which is definitely a bit bitter somewhere.”
Real, who are no longer in the running for the title in the league, can now fully prepare for the second leg in eight days. “Today we showed what we have to counter. We are probably facing the most difficult away game in European football at the moment. But we’re looking forward to it,” said Kroos. And Rüdiger knew the formula for reaching the Champions League final: “We have the Cojones to win there”
