After enduring a flurry at the Etihad on Wednesday, Real Madrid exacted revenge on Manchester City to advance to the Champions League semi-finals 4-3 on penalties.
The match finished even at 1-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring a response for the holders after Rodrygo had given the visitors an early lead.
But Andriy Lunin, Madrid’s improbable hero, stopped spot-kicks from Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic, ending City’s chances of winning the competition.
In an exciting first leg, the Ukrainian, who has filled in for the injured Thibaut Courtois this season, was somewhat to blame for City’s early lead, but he more than made up for it.
After Bayern Munich defeated Arsenal 3-2 on aggregate, Madrid will play the German powerhouse in the round of eight.
The 14-time European champions put up a valiant defensive effort to keep City, who had not lost at home in the Champions League since 2018, at bay despite 34 shots on goal.
It’s really challenging. They shift you around and keep probing with the ball. Jude Bellingham, a midfielder for Real Madrid, stated, “When City got on top of you, most teams would fall apart, but we stood up really well.”
“Today it came down to mentality.”
Eleven months ago, Madrid lost 4-0 at the Etihad to an early City blitz, and Pep Guardiola’s team went on to win the competition for the first time.
Two years prior, City also prevailed 4-3 at home in a thrilling semi-final first leg, only to be taken aback by a dramatic late comeback by Madrid in the rematch.
“In other sports for the stats we would win but football is like this and it’s marvellous,” Guardiola stated.
“Congratulations to Madrid for their outstanding ability to withstand and defend till the very end. We failed to score on either the last pass or the last attempt.
“I don’t regret anything. We always attempt to outperform the opposition by creating more and conceding less, and we did everything.”
On Wednesday, Carlo Ancelotti’s team turned things around with a confident start that was rewarded with the first goal.
Real started to wander down the right after Bellingham expertly snatched the ball out of the sky.
Vinicius Junior found the unmarked Rodrygo, who tapped in the rebound after Ederson, his Brazilian international teammate, parried his initial attempt.
Doku Creates an Impact.
Even though City took a while to get into the game, they soon had Madrid pinned against the ropes and were unable to score for 76 minutes.
Erling Haaland missed the net for the fourth time in the team’s meeting, but he has rarely been closer than when his looping header struck the crossbar and Silva was unable to react in time to convert the rebound.
Jack Grealish’s effort was diverted into the side netting by the resilient Antonio Rudiger, and Lunin was forced to turn away De Bruyne’s strike from outside the box.
Before Guardiola traded in the England international for Jeremy Doku’s added pace in the second half, the Madrid goalkeeper stopped two more attempts from Grealish.
That turned out to be a brilliant move because, with 14 minutes remaining, Rudiger mishandled a Doku cross and let De Bruyne smash the ball into the net.
De Bruyne then fired a magnificent chance over, and he should have won the tie on his own.
But in extra time, City’s threat was neutralized when both Haaland and De Bruyne had to be substituted.
Real Madrid had the finest opportunity of the extra thirty minutes when Rudiger, having stayed forward from a rare Madrid corner, sliced over with a clear sight of goal.
However, the German defender would still have the last say when he converted the shootout’s final penalty.
Ederson had handed City the lead early on with a stop from Luka Modric.
Silva tried to chip in from the middle, but Lunin collected the ball coolly and stopped Kovacic low to his right.
Bellingham, Lucas Vazquez, and Nacho brought Madrid dangerously close to victory, but Rudiger delivered the final blow to City’s dreams of winning a second straight triple.
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