City self-destruct at the death
Late drama as resilient Real snatch spot in final
IT was there. Within their grasp. So close, they could almost feel it. So close, they could picture the stadium, decked in sky blue and red on May 28. Liverpool versus...
And that’s where the dream died. It will not be Manchester City, creating a third all-English final in four years. Real Madrid will meet Liverpool in Paris. Real Madrid somehow rose from the dead and made that match. They were 5-3 down on aggregate in the final minute of normal time; and 6-5 up five minutes into extra time. It was the first time they had led across two entire ties: the 185th minute of the match.
Manchester City, in Europe. What is to become of them? Nothing is ever simple. Nothing straightforward. How did they lose this, having played so well on the night?
A minute before Real Madrid scored, Jack Grealish, on as a substitute, had two chances to put the outcome beyond doubt.
The first was cleared off the line, the second sent wide by the merest touch from Thibaut Courtois in goal. And then they were out, gone. They had silenced the Bernabeu, won the game. Why always them?
Yet credit Real Madrid, too. Credit them for never knowing when they are beaten.
Rodrygo wrested it from City. A second-half substitute for Toni Kroos. He scored twice. Once in the final minute of the game for what looked to be a consolation, then a minute later. City were stunned. They had been the better side for almost all of this tie. How could this be?
Oh, it be. Karim Benzema, kept quiet for most of the night, hooked a volleyed cross from the left side of the penalty area for Rodrygo’s first — Ederson beaten to the ball by his outstretched foot.
For the second, Marco Asensio crossed and the Brazilian forward rose above a now rattled defence and sent his header past Ederson.
Astonishing. Worse was to come. Extra time had barely started when Ruben Dias went in clumsily on Benzema, and Daniele Orsato pointed to the penalty spot. No Panenka for Benzema this time. He struck it low to Ederson’s left, giving him no chance.
There was barely a peep out of City after that. They were done. There is something about this competition and Madrid. Liverpool the same. Serial finalists, the pair of them.
So was it another classic, like the first leg? Not entirely. This was largely a tight game, with few chances and what looked to be the most important scored with 17 minutes remaining just as the hosts began to experience the first signs of self-doubt.
The streets around the Bernabeu were raucous and overwhelmed before the game, the noise within, deafening. A giant banner of talisman Benzema was unveiled.
Yet as the game wore on, City’s defensive strength came increasingly to the fore. It is possible to think them flaky, shipping three goals at home, but here was the team we saw in this city last month, against Atletico.
Benzema barely had a shot; Ederson barely had a serious save to make until the game was almost concluded. Kyle Walker, playing through the pain barrier, was quite brilliant against Vinicius Junior until he limped off with 20 minutes remaining. He could not have done any more.
Pep Guardiola (right) made what appeared sensible changes. Ilkay Gundogan for Kevin De Bruyne was one. A goalless draw was progress, What we have, we hold. Yet it is never simple like that, for City. No sooner had they switched to shore up the game, City scored.
What a set-up by Bernardo Silva. He ran storming through the middle, the heart of the Bernabeu, drawing opponents, creating space. Gabriel Jesus was on, and looked the obvious ball.
But this is City, so Silva ignored it and went for something far harder. Telepathically, he sensed Riyad Mahrez arriving like a train. He bypassed Jesus and played him in instead. Mahrez’s shot was so powerful it did not matter that it was relatively near to Courtois in goal. He was powerless to prevent it. Mahrez’s seventh in the competition, a record for City in this competition. Not that anyone will remember now. Some think that being the manager of Real Madrid is just a case of getting 11 players on the field and letting them fly, that Carlo Ancelotti’s laidback demeanour was the result of having it, well, easy. Here was a half of football that showed why a coach gets the Real Madrid gig.
It’s not easy playing the best teams in the world; it’s not easy matching Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
YET that’s what Ancelotti did, in the opening 45 minutes. He took a team that had the beating of Real Madrid a week ago and, for the most part, nullified them.
He kept De Bruyne quiet; he used Luka Modric to stop Rodri bringing the ball out of the back; he limited the impact of Mahrez, who went into this game a goal short of Manchester City’s most prolific Champions League campaign. Phil Foden was a handful but, then, he so often is. Looking at the player now, how smartly did Guardiola handle that young man’s development?
Manchester City had the best
chances of the first half, but not many of them. They rushed to a two-goal lead in the first leg, but this was a more cautious affair. Ancelotti looked to contain City’s threat while packing a counterattacking punch, largely through Vinicius.
Guardiola played a more patient game, having hit Madrid with shock and awe at home. It was anybody’s game.
Plenty of needle, too. Just eight minutes gone and Italian referee Orsato, from Italy, had already booked Aymeric Laporte and Modric for a heated clash. Laporte looked to have delivered a slap and then collapsed to the floor, as if from recoil.
It was all a bit laughable really, but not the sort of behaviour Guardiola will have found amusing. His centre half booked with 82 minutes to go — and a red card in this game is about the only punishment that does not result in an amnesty for the final. Not that City could afford to think that far ahead with Benzema on the prowl. He had a couple of early sighters go wide, before setting up Vinicius after 18 minutes. The wide man shot over but the danger was clear and present. City had to get nearer to Benzema — and for the rest of the half they did. A Toni Kroos free-kick after 27 minutes was deflected narrowly over, but City will have been largely happy with their defensive resilience. One tackle by Walker on the lighting quick Vinicius was stunning. It took place at full pelt, on the side, and in the penalty area. The tiniest misjudgement could have been fatal. City got closer and Courtois, in Madrid’s goal, was called on to make two fine saves. The first came after 20 minutes when Foden won the ball on the right and Rodri picked out De Bruyne, who moved the ball swiftly on to Silva.
The angle was tight but Silva struck the ball well and Courtois did splendidly to keep it out.
Just three minutes later, De Bruyne couldn’t bring the ball under control in the area but did just enough to tee up Gabriel Jesus, who hit a lovely bending shot just wide.
With five minutes to go before half-time, Courtois saved again — this time from the lively Foden, striking a shot from range. Yet goalless was no good for Madrid, and in the second half it showed.
Ancelotti had given a couple of none-too-subtle signals — arms outstretched in the universal WTF gesture when passes went astray or the ball was simply hoofed into space — and Madrid’s ambition gradually grew.
They didn’t actually get a shot on target in the first half, but within seconds of the restart Dani Carvajal sent a cross flashing through the City area, where it was missed at the far post by Vinicius.
Plainly, there was plenty of this to come.