14-time European champions, Real Madrid beat defending champions Manchester City on penalties to book their place in a fourth successive UEFA Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
Perhaps owing to the pressure of knowing a spot in the last-four was on the line, a cagey start at the Etihad did come as a slight surprise after the first leg in the Bernabéu began in such frantic circumstances.
It was City who drew first blood on that occasion, but Real were quickest out of the blocks in East Manchester, nosing ahead inside 15 minutes when at the second time of asking, Rodrygo fired past Ederson from inside the six-yard box.
City’s response was inches away from being perfect though, as Erling Haaland leapt highest in the area but could only watch on with angst as his header bounced away off the crossbar.
That was as close as City came to finding a leveller before the break, with a couple of fearsome Kevin De Bruyne strikes signalling their intent, but by no means threatening Real’s resistance.
Pep Guardiola’s side looked much more dangerous after HT, and twice tested Andriy Lunin within 10 minutes of the restart, but the Ukrainian had the answers to the questions Jack Grealish and Phil Foden asked of him.
The Etihad faithful were growing uneasy with Real’s gamesmanship, and although the stop-start nature of the game certainly wasn’t pleasing on the eye, it was exactly what the Spanish giants needed to take the sting out of proceedings.
City pressure was incessant at times, and after introducing the electric Jérémy Doku, it was his cross that forced an error out of Antonio Rüdiger, whose miscued clearance at the near post was punished in emphatic fashion by De Bruyne, who slammed the loose ball high into the roof of the net. The Belgian ought to have won it for City in normal time when he fired Manuel Akanji’s cut-back over from 12-yards.
All night Real had been biding their time waiting for that one big chance that would likely fall their way, and when it did in extra-time, it simply fell to the wrong man, as an unmarked Rüdiger rifled over from a tight angle.
It was ultimately Real who prevailed, with Lunin saving from Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovačić before Rüdiger converted what was ultimately the winning penalty to set up a semi-final date with Bayern Munich and move his side one step closer to a 15th European Cup/UCL title.
