Real Madrid stun Manchester City to reach Champions League 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 secondhalf 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 Marcos Asension 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.