Vinicius Junior and Kevin De Bruyne scored two world-class goals to help the teams produce one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Champions League. The only shot Madrid took in the first half was a magnificent strike from Vinicius that appeared to unnerve Pep Guardiola’s team after City had dominated the early going. But just as Madrid was attempting to score their second goal midway through the second half, De Bruyne hushed the Bernabeu with a powerful strike of his own from a distance. There was no dramatic finish as there had been for City in the semi-final game at this stadium last season, and they will be confident that they can do the job at the Etihad Stadium the following week.
Given that City managed to blow a two-goal lead in the closing minute of regulation time in the second leg of their semi-final matchup against Madrid last season, before losing in overtime at the Bernabeu, this matchup brought back unpleasant memories. And while they controlled possession early on in the game and harassed Thibaut Courtois’ goal without showing any signs of nervousness, their calm was put to the test when Madrid sucker-punched them with a moment of brilliance from Vinicius. He is an exceptional athlete.
The Brazilian received the ball from Eduardo Camavinga after cutting inside on the left, who then rifled it past fellow countryman Ederson from beyond the penalty area. Madrid did what they do best: they absorbed the strain before turning the tables on their rivals. There has to be an answer. Erling Haaland had to be handled by David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger, which took City some time.
Ilkay Gundogan put De Bruyne up, and once he did, he blasted the ball beyond international teammate Courtois. It matched Vinicius’ objective. Despite Karim Benzema’s close-range header forcing a brilliant save from Ederson, neither team was able to claim the victory on the night; that will have to wait until Manchester next week. The tie is still up for grabs, but based on this data, there are plenty of players who can make the call.
“They scored when we performed better. We won when they performed better. The game was quite close. A semi-final at Bernabeu is always challenging. We experienced both positive and negative [moments] due to their ball-handling skills,” Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola said. “It is 1-1. a final with our people on Wednesday. We are now headed to Manchester to see what we can improve on. It seems like a play-off when you participate in these games. You gain a lot of knowledge from the first to the second. I hope we can gain anything.”
“An enjoyable and captivating game. The first half was challenging for us, but the second half was much better. They had the most of the ball in the first half, but we were in terrific defensive control and when we started to play the ball, we made a lot of challenges,” Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “Keep your composure, maintain your defensive position, avoid going overboard while pressing, remain there and play the low block, and when we had the chance, we scored the opening goal. Even if [Vinicius Junior] is having a great game, the squad did well. I feel happy and optimistic about the game on Wednesday.”
“I believe that we had excellent game control for the first 25 to 30 minutes. They score an amazing goal on their first shot. But despite the challenges, we persisted in the game, did not alter our guiding principles, and continued to compete. Because it is so hard to recover focus after you’ve lost it, there is a lot of attention necessary. Up forward, they have quick players as well. However, the boys put in an amazing effort,” Manchester City midfielder Rodri said. “He has always been a key player for us. He has been wonderful and has assisted us when we most needed it. They kept the ball in the second half, which hurt us a little, but that goal gave us the motivation to keep fighting. a fruitful outcome for us.”
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