a stubborn Real Madrid overcomes Manchester City on penalties – Libération

Champions LeaguefileThe title holders failed to get rid of Merengue, who were admirable in defense, this Wednesday, April 17, on their lawn at the Etihad Stadium. The Madrilenians will meet Bayern Munich in the semi-final.

A giant on the mat, a titan in the semis. From the draw for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, it was written that one of the two big favorites, the defending champion, Manchester City, or the most successful club, Real Madrid, would fail in the middle of April, at a deadline unworthy of his rank. Woe to the vanquished. It remained to be seen which one and in what way it would have been thrown from Olympus. After a Homeric first act in Spain (3-3), the two teams delivered a new indecisive and high-level game, although poorer in fireworks, this Wednesday, April 17, on the Manchester lawn. And it was Real who escaped, after two hours of fierce defense.

Very quickly, we saw that we were dealing with serious people: clean passes, well-established defenses, a decision that promised to be difficult to make. However, Real took control of the match in the 12th minute, with a ball from the sky finding Jude Bellingham behind the opposing lines. In the relative disorganization that followed, three passes were enough: Valverde, Vinicius and Rodrygo receiving a tense cross, to line up Ederson in two stages. 0-1 for the Merengue, the match was on.

Manchester City then applied the well-known precepts of its coach Pep Guardiola: ball retention, small passes within the opponent’s 25 meters, players who find themselves where we did not think it was possible. But despite several serious alerts (a header on the bar from Haaland in the 18th, a bag from De Bruyne pushed back in the 26th), Real held on, thanks to the returns of the experienced Kroos, the self-sacrifice of Rüdiger and the parades of his Ukrainian goalkeeper Lunin.

Doku’s impactful entrance

The second half started on the same basis, City pushing the cursor a little further in terms of pressure. The embrace of the Sky Blues asphyxiated Real in long sequences, pushing the Madrilenians so close to their goal that we even believed that they were going to take the ball there themselves. This is what almost happened in the 51st minute, after a disagreement between Nacho and Lunin on a back ball, forcing the Madrid defender to pull away to avoid an own goal. Always not.

Real fell back, fell back, but did not break. City seemed to be running out of solutions. And then Guardiola released Grealish for Doku and the Mancunian sky suddenly cleared. Each ball taken by the sharp Belgian winger brought new danger. Until, a few minutes after coming into play, the former Rennais once again overflowed to send a tense cross into Madrid’s six meters. Rüdiger pushes back as best he can at the feet of De Bruyne, who does not hesitate to crucify Lunin (75th). We heard a big “phew” coming from the aisles of the Etihad Stadium to greet the equalizer.

Rüdiger decisive scorer

De Bruyne will have two opportunities to drive the point home: a marvelous curling shot which licked the crossbar (78th) and a shot from eleven meters which passes just above (82nd) ​​after a cross from… Doku, become City’s favored weapon. But despite the blue waves, the two teams were still unable to decide between themselves at the end of regulation time. City’s domination continued in extra time, but Real finally managed to grab a few crumbs. A counter from Vinicius, swallowed by Walker (100th), a first corner of the match obtained in the 106th minute when City had had time to score sixteen. Following this corner kick, Rüdiger, in an improbable center-forward position, missed the hold-up.

Failing that, he continued, like all of his colleagues, to offer a compact, organized and ultimately intractable defense to City. Enough to lead the evening until the penalties, the final process to finally chemically separate two such homogeneous formations. From this ordeal, it was the Madrilenians who emerged from it, despite a first failure from Modric. But Silva and Kovacic came up against a big Lunin. And, as a symbol, it is Rüdiger who scores the winning shot. Real will meet Bayern Munich in the semi-final, who disposed of Arsenal on their lawn at the Allianz Arena on the smallest of marks.