- Manchester City are out of the UEFA Champions League after losing to Real Madrid in at the Etihad last night via penalties
- The defending champions saw their campaign end at the quarter-finals stage
The Man City vs Real Madrid clash played last night brought to an end the Cytizens quest for a second consecutive UEFA Champions League title.
After holding Real Madrid to a 3-3 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu last week, City couldn’t take advantage of home support on Wednesday night and saw their Champions League campaign come to an end. Real Madrid took an early lead at Etihad Stadium and Pep Guardiola’s side had to wait until 14 minutes from time before finding their way back into this tie.
Rodrygo scores during the Man City vs Real Madrid match. Photo/ France 24.
Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t get the winning goal after extra time despite dominating the proceedings and were eliminated from this season’s Champions League through penalties. Luka Modric missed the first penalty but that will be forgiven by Real Madrid fans because misses by Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic allowed the Los Blancos to proceed to the semi-finals at the expense of City.
Speaking after the Man City vs Real Madrid match, Guardiola appreciated his players for performing at a high level. The Premier League giants had 33 shots to Real’s eight and 18 corners to one but couldn’t just take their chances.
“I have to say thank you to these players from deep in my heart because the way they played. But football is about winning and we didn’t do enough yet we were exceptional… Everyone performed at a high level.” Guardiola is quoted by Manchester City’s official website.
Real Madrid will face Bayern Munich in the semi-finals of the Champions League after the Bundesliga powerhouse eliminated Arsenal from the competition also last night.
Man City Vs Real Madrid
The first leg of this tie delivered immediately from the start; however, things were slightly different at the Etihad as no side wanted to make mistakes early on.
After a cagey start, Real Madrid opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Rodrygo who beat City’s goalkeeper Ederson from inside the box. City almost responded immediately but Erling Haaland’s header hit the crossbar. The rebound found Bernardo but the Portuguese effort went wide.
Real Madrid would have added to their advantage afterwards but Josko Gvardiol made a fine block to stop Dani Carvajal’s effort from going in.
City captain Kevin De Bruyne fired a shot from 20 yards but the visitors’ goalkeeper Andriy Lunin did well to parry it away. The Belgian then tried his luck from 25 yards but it went over the bar. A few minutes later, Antonio Rudiger deflected Jack Grealish‘s effort which looked like was on target.
Even though City had more chances in the first period, Real Madrid looked lethal because of the counter attack football they were playing.
City continued to dominate the proceedings in the second half and twice tested Lunin within the first ten minutes after the restart. With time running out, Guardiola decided to replace Grealish with the pacey Jeremy Doku and it was the Belgian’s cross into the box that led to City’s equalizer. Antonio Rudiger failed to properly clear the ball, which provided De Bruyne the opportunity to fire home and level the scores in the 76th minute.
Real Madrid have progressed to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Photo/ KBAK.
The 32-year-old almost added another a few minutes later after being found in the box by Manuel Akanji’s pass but he fired over the bar.
The match proceeded to extra time where City continued to press Real Madrid but were not lucky enough in front of goal. Eventually, the Man City vs Real Madrid tie had to be decided through penalty shootouts where the Los Blancos triumphed.
Luka Modric missed the first penalty but it was erased immediately when Bernardo’s effort was also unsuccessful. City lost it when Mateo Kovacic had his effort saved by Lunin and then Rudiger stood firm to dispatch Real’s fifth penalty.
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