Real Madrid Edge Out Manchester City in Dramatic Champions League quarterfinal Shootout
- Real Madrid clinches a thrilling Champions League quarter-final victory against Manchester City in a dramatic penalty shootout, securing advancement in the tournament.
In a thrilling quarterfinal at Etihad Stadium, Real Madrid defeated Manchester City on penalties, wresting away the team’s Champions League grasp.
After falling behind to Rodrygo’s early goal, the holders rallied to put pressure on Real Madrid’s goal. Kevin de Bruyne’s clearing 14 minutes into normal time allowed them to finally tie the score.
The least City deserved given their near complete dominance, yet they lost out because Real Madrid, worn out and putting up a valiant fightback, held out for spot-kicks due to a lack of finishing touch.
After Luka Modric missed Real Madrid’s first penalty, City appeared to be headed to the semi-finals against Bayern Munich. However, keeper Andriy Lunin saved two more penalties, one from substitute Mateo Kovacic and the other from Bernardo Silva. This left former Chelsea defender Rudiger to step up and seal the victory for the legendary Champions League specialists.
It put an end to City’s attempt to win the FA Cup, Premier League, and Champions League three more times. They now need to recover from this taxing match in order to defend the FA Cup against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.
With the exception of the early moments, when the La Liga leaders scored through Rodrygo, City will be perplexed for a long time as to why they were unable to win this match while having total control over their Spanish opponents.
The explanation is straightforward: Real Madrid was absolved of responsibility by Pep Guardiola’s team, who heaped up chances but failed to seize them.
Despite having 33 shots to Real’s 8 and 18 corners to one, City was unable to stop Carlo Ancelotti’s team.
Furthermore, there was always a chance that Real, who had previously defeated City in this competition as the great escape artists, might manage to win.
This was indeed the case, with the pivotal moment occurring when Silva decided to loft a terrible penalty directly into Lunin’s hands, tipping the odds back in Real’s favour following Modric’s initial mistake.
In the midst of their anguish, the home crowd rallied to support their team, the Champions League winners from last season’s crushing defeat to Inter Milan in Istanbul.
The goal of winning the FA Cup and Premier League domestic double will take front stage. City put up an excellent show, just missing the second goal they deserved.
Erling Haaland had another difficult evening; after missing the bar with a header early in the match, Real Madrid kept him at bay until he was replaced by Julian Alvarez at the beginning of extra time.
Now, Guardiola has to inspire and reinvigorate City ahead of their Saturday night encounter at Wembley against Chelsea.
The hero Lunin for With the elite Thibaut Courtois injured, Real Madrid custodian Lunin has filled in admirably. With this performance, he atones for his mistake that led to Silva’s goal at the Bernabeu.
The 23-year-old international from Ukraine performed admirably as Real managed to hold off a strong City attack in the second half and kept manager Carlo Ancelotti’s team on track for a seventh victory in this competition.
Real Madrid was virtually brought to a complete stop at the end of extra time in numerous instances; nonetheless, they are the legendary Champions League survivors and will once again feel that they are meant to win the trophy after defeating City.
Jude Bellingham of England saw it as a further learning opportunity at this top level, one that can only help him for the remainder of this Real Madrid season and for his nation in Euro 2024.
Bellingham suffered from City’s intensity just like the rest of his teammates, but he still delivered two crucial contributions.
In the build-up to Rodrygo’s goal, the 20-year-old displayed amazing control. Later, in the shootout, he confidently took the penalty and quietly finished it to silence the Etihad supporters.
Even though it wasn’t Bellingham’s best night, he still contributed.
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