City pounce on Rapahael mistakes to dump Madrid
Manchester, Aug. 8: Manchester City took advantage of two shocking mistakes by Raphael Varane to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in their Champions League last 16 second leg on Friday and advance to the quarterfinals as Pep Guardiola came out on top in his duel with Zinedine Zidane.
The Frenchman had never been knocked out of Europe’s elite club competition as Real coach, leading them to three consecutive victories between 2016 and 2018 in his first spell before returning to the job last year.
But Madrid had been left with a mountain to climb in this tie after throwing away the lead to lose 2-1 in the first leg in Spain in February, before the coronavirus forced the competition into hibernation.
An identical defeat at an empty Etihad Stadium means it is City who advance 4-2 on aggregate.
Without Sergio Ramos due to suspension, Real were undone by mistakes by their other first-choice centre-back.
Varane was dispossessed inside the box in the ninth minute allowing Raheem Sterling to put City ahead, and his poor headed backpass attempt gifted Gabriel Jesus another goal midway through the second half.
Before that second goal the tie had been in the balance with the in-form Karim Benzema having scored for the visitors just before the half-hour mark.
The circumstances may be highly unusual, but this is still City’s finest Champions League result, their most significant victory in a knockout tie. THIS DEFEAT IS ON ME, SAYS VARANE French defender Varane insisted on facing up to his two mistakes and admitted: “This is on me. I failed.
“I want to stand up because in my eyes, this defeat is on me. I have to take responsibility for it,” admitted Varane.
“I am sad for my teammates, for their efforts. I have to take my responsibility in the defeat, mistakes cost dearly at this level of competition.”
The 27-year-old French national captain added: “We gave everything on the pitch but sometimes you can fail. Today, I failed, and I have to admit it.”
ZIDANE IS NOT TOO DOWNBEAT AFTER LOSS Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he remained “proud” of his team for their achievements this season despite the Spanish giants going out of the Champions League. “We can’t be happy about today because we have lost a game and gone out, but we have to be proud of what we have done over the season,” Zidane said after the match.
Real overhauled Barcelona to win La Liga for the first time since 2017.
However, they have now been knocked out of the Champions League for the first time with Zidane as coach — the Frenchman led Real to glory in the competition in three straight years during his first spell in charge.