Man City beats Real Madrid to reach Champions League final

MANCHESTER, England —

Manchester City is three games away from making history. And after the stunning rout of Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals on Wednesday, Pep Guardiola’s march toward a treble of trophies feels unstoppable.

“We are there. We can think about it, can visualize it,” the City manager said after his team’s 4-0 win at Etihad Stadium.

Madrid’s undisputed kings of Europe were humbled and, but for the efforts of Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, the scoreline could have been so much worse for the 14-time champions.

City feels like an irresistible force as it closes in on the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup titles. It was certainly too much for Madrid to handle as Bernardo Silva scored twice in the first half, Eder Militao scored an own goal after the break and substitute Julian Alvarez struck in time added on to seal a 5-1 aggregate win.

Madrid has fought its way back from the brink on numerous occasions over the past two seasons, but this was too great a challenge.

After overrunning the defending European champions, City will be favoured to do the same to Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul on June 10.

A win against Chelsea on Sunday would secure a third straight league title and Manchester United stands in its way in the FA Cup final.

United is the only English team to win the three main trophies in one season — doing so in 1999.

City has already overtaken its Manchester rival as the dominant force in English soccer and can now emulate its greatest achievement.

“We are close and, of course, we are going to try,” Guardiola said.

City is going in search of its first Champions League title, while Guardiola is aiming to win it for a third time as a coach.