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After last week’s 3-3 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, not many doubted Manchester City’s chances of beating Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. In addition to being arguably the best team in Europe, Pep Guardiola’s side also had history in their corner.
Los Blancos had never managed to win at the Etihad Stadium. On their last visit — the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg — they suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat and stepped out without making a peep.
Carlo Ancelotti needed to find a way to avoid a similar fate, and thanks to his players’ indomitable desire and boundless commitment, he managed to climb to the top of the mountain on Wednesdsay (April 17). Real Madrid held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw (4-4 on aggregate) at the end of 120 minutes before beating them 4-3 on penalties. With the win, Ancelotti became the first ever manager to knock Guardiola out of the Champions League a whopping three times.
Manchester City Frustrated By Real Madrid’s Rock Solid Defense
Real Madrid had a clear game plan from the get-go. They were prepared to run and suffer but were not going to let the Cityzens overload the final third. City, meanwhile, enjoyed the freedom in the first 10 minutes and tried to turn the screw on the visitors. While the hosts were considerably more dominant, it was Madrid’s Rodrygo who landed the first blow. After brilliantly controlling a long ball, Jude Bellingham squared it to Vinicius Jr. The Brazilian ran down the right flank and squared the ball to Rodrygo, who found the back of the net in his second attempt after seeing Ederson block the first one.
The goal pushed City to put more bodies forward, and for the next hour of the game, they did everything in their power to find a way through. Erling Haaland hit the crossbar with a looping header, there were a couple of miskicks, and Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin made a flurry of saves to keep Manchester City at…
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Author : Sushan Chakraborty
Publish date : 2024-04-18 06:40:11
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