Real Madrid beat Manchester City on penalties to reach Champions League semi-finals
After overcoming Manchester City in a thrilling penalty shootout on Wednesday, Real Madrid advances to the Champions League semifinals to play Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid was dealt a crushing blow by defender António R9diger, who scored a penalty kick into the bottom left corner and was trampled by his teammates as they celebrated.
Following an exciting match in which eight goals were scored in each game, the 14-time European champions won 4-3 on penalties.
According to Federico Valverde, a midfielder for Los Blancos, “Madrid always delivers; that’s part of football.” The opponent was the clear favorite going into the game because they were playing better football than we were.
But we are Madrid, and we fought hard, dug in, and played excellent defense. We won the game in this manner.
It was expected that City would advance in what turned out to be an intensely dramatic evening at the Etihad Stadium following a nail-biting first leg between the two teams that finished 3–3 in Madrid.
Rodyrgo’s skillfully placed goal in the twelfth minute gave Real the advantage in the match.
Jude Bellingham’s incredible control set up the goal’s precursor, allowing Valverde and Vinícius Jr. to combine and throw in a cross to Rodrygo, who scored on his second try after Ederson, the City goalkeeper, parried his first attempt back to his feet.
As City attempted to equalize, Erling Haaland’s header sailed just wide of the post a few minutes later, and Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne also came close.
In the second half, Real Madrid opted to sit back and defend, but the home team persisted in pressing and were rewarded when De Bruyne fired a shot into the top of the net following Jérémy Doku’s incisive cross into the box.
De Bruyne had more opportunities to give Man City the victory, but Real Madrid’s defense held strong, and after extra time, the score was still 1-1, 4-4 overall.
Ederson stopped Luka Modrić’s first attempt in the penalty shootout, but Bernardo Silva’s shot went straight at a motionless Andriy Lunin, wiping out City’s lead.
Mateo Kovačić’s penalty was then saved by the Real goalie to turn the tide of play in his team’s favor. After tries from Ederson, Phil Foden, Nacho, and Lucas Vázquez, Rüdiger scored to send Real into the semifinals.
“We showed the attitude and commitment required by this jersey,” coach Ancelotti said after the game.
“This is a very special game for us, we always provide things that people don’t want us to produce. Everyone is writing about us, but we are still here.”
For Manchester City, the chance to win the triple crown again-the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA Cup-no longer exists, which makes this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea even more important.
“Congratulations to Real Madrid, they defended so deeply with incredible unity,” City manager Pep Guardiola said. “We did everything. I don’t regret anything we did.
“As coaches, we always strive to create more and concede fewer goals in every game because it helps to win. We did everything, defensive and offensive-we performed well in every department. Unfortunately, we failed to win. It is what it is.”