CL crime thriller chooses Bayern opponents
Real Madrid first makes City despair and then keeps their nerve
April 17, 2024, 11:47 p.m
The first leg was a spectacle, nerves are also required in the second leg: the giant duel between Real Madrid and Manchester City ends in the greatest possible drama, the penalty shootout. In the end, Real Madrid prevailed and were thus confirmed as FC Bayern’s semi-final opponents.
An ice-cold Antonio Rüdiger makes Real Madrid dream of Wembley: The Royals drove defending champions Manchester City to despair and secured their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League with great passion and nerve. Real triumphed 4-3 on penalties in the quarter-final second leg against Pep Guardiola’s English treble winners – Rüdiger scored the decisive try.
After 120 minutes the score was 1:1 (1:1, 1:0), the first leg ended 3:3. Real took revenge for their elimination last year and are playing against Bayern Munich for a ticket to the final in the London football temple.
Rodrygo (12th) scored to give Real an early lead and shocked City, who had entered the top duel with a sensational record of 27 games without defeat across all competitions. The “Skyblues” then besieged Madrid goalkeeper Andrej Lunin’s goal. The bulwark lasted until the 76th minute of the game, when Kevin de Bruyne converted a rebound. Lunin then saved two penalties before Rüdiger was the decisive man. Toni Kroos had already been substituted.
Ancelotti corrects himself
Before the next duel between the long-term rivals, there was a lot reminiscent of the meeting a year ago. At that time it was also level (1:1) after the semi-final first leg in Madrid – but then City made short work of the proud Real in a 4-0 win and moved into the final. Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti remembered one personality afterwards: he initially did without Rüdiger in central defense, and that shouldn’t happen again.
Ancelotti, who had been very optimistic in advance, was now fully counting on Rüdiger to take Erling Haaland on the chain again as he did in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium. It was extremely difficult, and after the perfect start for Madrid, the Norwegian quickly made his presence felt: Haaland headed onto the crossbar in the 19th minute of the game. After that we went back and forth at an express pace.
Real Madrid, led by Kroos, were very happy with the initial phase; Vinicius Jr., Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo repeatedly created dangerous moments with quick switches. But City, with Ederson instead of Stefan Ortega in goal, noticeably increased the intensity and ensured constant pressure. Initially still without income.
In the second half, Real could hardly provide any relief and City pushed more and more vehemently for the equalizer, which was then well deserved. It went into extra time – in which nothing happened. Then the nerves decided.