Manchester City – Real Madrid was a fairly straightforward win for the hosts, as they reached the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals by beating the 13-time European champions 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate.
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Raheem Sterling opened the scoring for Man City after a bad mistake from Raphael Varane was ruthlessly punished. Real’s Eden Hazard and Karim Benzema combined well at times and although Ederson denied them early on, Benzema pulled one back in the first half as Rodrygo’s cross was nodded home by the French striker.
Benzema and Jesus both went close for either team in the second half and the latter made the most of another big mistake from Varane to make it 2-1 and seal Man City’s spot in the quarterfinals for the third-straight season with relative ease.
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Here’s a look at what we learned from the Etihad, as Manchester City – Real Madrid was an open affair but the hosts always looked in control.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DREAM ALIVE FOR MAN CITY
Pep Guardiola is like Indiana Jones entering the desert on his way to reaching the holy grail. Lisbon is now his ‘Canyon of the Crescent Moon’ as Man City have a quarterfinal, semifinal and final between them and footballing immortality. Man City have longed for Champions League glory and given their successful appeal against their two-season UEFA ban, they will now stride into Lisbon, Portugal as the favorites to be crowned champions of Europe. They strolled past Real Madrid and even without the injured Sergio Aguero, you’d fancy them to sweep all before them to reach the promised land. Man City have always found a way to mess things up in the Champions League but this season feels different. They gave up their Premier League trophy easily to Liverpool but it seemed like the Champions League was always the main focus this season. They now face Lyon in the quarterfinals and then their toughest test, likely either Barcelona or Napoli in the semifinals. Guardiola knows the holy grail is within reach as he is closer than ever to finally delivering the trophy Man City’s Abu Dhabi owners have built this whole project to win.
¡Gooooooooooooooool del @mancity! ⚽
¡¿Pero qué estás haciendo, Varane?! Error increíble del francés y el City parece matar la eliminatoria. 😎@mancity 2(4)-(2)1 @realmadrid#ManchesterCity | #RealMadrid | #UCL
🔴 En vivo
📺 TUDN | @unimas
📲👉 https://t.co/F2YFQT9QhW pic.twitter.com/5rUUyU47WW— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) August 7, 2020
SLOPPY REAL MADRID EXIT WITH A WHIMPER
Missing captain and legendary Sergio Ramos through suspension from the first leg, Real Madrid needed young defender Edgar Militao to step up in is place. They did not need silky smooth defender Raphael Varane to give the ball away early on to give up a cheap and avoidable goal. Although Real recovered from that early error, they failed to get Luka Modric on the ball as much as they wanted to and Eden Hazard and Benzema only showed flashes of promise. Just when it seemed like Real would push hard for a second goal which would have taken the game to extra time, Varane made another big mistake. And that was that. After impressing in La Liga since the restart and winning the Spanish title, Real Madrid looked remarkably subdued as perhaps a few weeks off before this game impacted them. The Kings of Europe will have to wait another year to add another crown to their collection. Manchester City – Real Madrid was historic, as it marked the first time Zinedine Zidane has ever lost a Champions League game in the knockout rounds. The way his team limped out of Europe was surprising and disappointing for Real Madrid.
GOALLL! Real Madrid's Karim Benzema makes it 1-1 on the night & 3-2 to Man City on aggregate. Rodrygo with a lovely cross from the right and Benzema heads home. His superb form after the restart continues.
This is set up perfectly!#MCFC 1-1 #RMFC #UCLpic.twitter.com/ahb5r1IwKY
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) August 7, 2020
PEP BEATS ZIZOU, BUT FALSE NINE FAILS
It was a surprise to see Phil Foden start ahead of David Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva in a game of this magnitude but there’s always a method to Pep’s madness. And it isn’t madness, is it? It’s genius. Just like he did in the first leg at Real Madrid, Pep raised eyebrows as he started a central midfielder (Foden this time, Kevin de Bruyne in the first leg) as a false nine. Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling were rampant from each flank early on, putting defenders under pressure in their own box, and that was how they opened the scoring. But Man City then failed to build on that lead and let Real back into the game. Pep changed things around at half time and Jesus looked more comfortable centrally and so too did Foden. It was a small tweak but it got Man City back on track and Guardiola’s tactical nous made the difference, even though Man City were handed the win on a platter thanks to Real Madrid’s shaky defensive display.
¡Goooooooooooooool del @mancity! ⚽
Error garrafal en la defensa que le cuesta el primero al Madrid. ¿Se va el equipo merengue? 😱@mancity 1(3)-(1)0 @realmadrid#ManchesterCity | #RealMadrid | #UCL
🔴 En vivo
📺 TUDN | @unimas
📲👉 https://t.co/F2YFQT9QhW pic.twitter.com/rtT5sSmO5J— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) August 7, 2020
