How to sink Real Madrid in the Champions League? Manchester City did not have the answer this Wednesday in any case, because at the end of the penalty shootout (1-1, 4-3 tab), the Citizens saw their dream of a semi-final disappear in their own stadium, at the end of a match dominated by the feet and the head.
Published on: 04/17/2024 – 11:53 p.m.
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Real Madrid is almost miraculous. Where did the Madrilenians come from to win this Wednesday, April 17 in this quarter-final second leg of the Champions League against Manchester City? From nowhere. Or yes, an absolutely empty match. Because Real struck first… but only struck once. On a counter with Jude Bellingham receiving a very long ball, the Englishman served as a launching pad for Vinicius who found Rodrygo with a strong pass in the area. The latter opened the scoring by being unmarked thanks to a slip from Walker at the worst time, the same Walker who covered the offside for Vinicius earlier in the action. And then, that’s about it for the people of Madrid.
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Because the picture was drawn: City was going to monopolize the ball and besiege the opposing area when Madrid was going to play counterattacks and let their goalkeeper shine. And what a goalkeeper. On the two corners taken in the first period, he was vigilant, on a pure strike from Kévin De Bruyne also (27th), on the superb volley from Jack Grealish again (47th). He even had the success which transforms a good match into a great match for a goalkeeper. In the 19th minute, Erling Haaland headed a cross to catapult it onto the bar, but the ball died at the feet of Bernardo Silva, who was unable to send it back towards the net.
Belgian connection to equalize
We were already heading towards an attack-defense in the first period, we were treated to a sort of caricature during the second. Absolutely nothing to eat, nothingness for Real, who, in 45 minutes, transformed into their best enemy Atlético. Eleven very low players, ready to draw at the slightest enemy error. But there was no mistake.
Worse still for Ancelotti’s men, the Citizens did not let their nerves get to them. And it was finally De Bruyne, helped by the work of Jérémy Doku on the left side, who catapulted the ball under Lunin’s bar to equalize (76th). Nothing more logical. The Belgian even came close to doubling the bet twice before the end of regulation time. First by aiming at the opponent’s top corner with his left paw at the entrance to the area (78th), then by wasting a golden opportunity in the heart of the area with a shot intended for the stands (82nd).
After the 3-3 of the first leg and the 1-1 of these 90 one-sided minutes, Carlo Ancelotti’s men obtained the best they could hope for: an extension. Another half hour, curled up on their goal, waiting for the penalty shootout, banking on that little who knows what that accompanies them in the Champions League, making them almost immortal. A winning bet since it was two saves from Lunin, the real hero of the evening, and a penalty from Rudiger, which sent Real Madrid to the semi-final. Well helped by an uninspired Bernardo Silva with a weak shot in the middle of the goal. Madrid not only won tonight, Madrid survived.
A semi-final against Bayern to come
For its part, after three consecutive failures, Bayern Munich qualified for the last four of the Champions League, thanks to its 1-0 home success against Arsenal, which remains its favorite victim in the premier competition. The hero of the Munich evening is Joshua Kimmich, who has been placed on the right side of Bayern’s defense for several weeks. With a perfect header, wrong-footing Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya shortly after the hour mark, he secured his ticket to the semi-finals.
Thomas Tuchel’s men, who are leaving at the end of the season, will face Real Madrid in the semi-finals at the beginning of May. The first leg will take place in Bavaria and the return leg in England or Spain. Since its last European coronation at the end of August 2020 in Lisbon against PSG, Bayern had always seen the door to the semi-finals close in its face, in 2021 by PSG, in 2022 by the Spaniards of Villarreal and in 2023 by the Citizens , future winners.
The first-leg draw on home soil at the Emirates (2-2) had simplified the equation for Manuel Neuer’s teammates: winning at home to see the semi-finals and taking out the Gunners for the fifth time after 2005 , 2013, 2014 and 2017 (each time in the round of 16), or lose and end the 2023/24 season without a trophy, a first since 2011/12. The dream of Harry Kane, who came to Munich in the summer of 2023 to win titles, of winning the Champions League in his Wembley garden on June 1 overcame a first big obstacle on Wednesday.
