City blow it in shootout as Rudiger kills Pep’s double Treble dream
Afew minutes before kick-off, a flag depicting a double-decker bus began to be passed along the Manchester City fans behind of the goals at the etihad Stadium.
It had Phil foden’s face emblazoned on the side next to the figure 192, the number of the bus that runs from Manchester, through foden’s home town, Stockport, to Hazel Grove.
There was something else on it, too. ‘wembley express’ was written on it in big capital letters, a reference not to City’s appearance there on Saturday in the fA Cup semi-final against Chelsea but a nod to the fact that the Champions League final will take place in north-west London on June 1.
Call City an express or a juggernaut or a steam train but they have been picking up speed and travelling fast, as they always seem to do at this stage of the season.
They trailed for much of this game last night but it sometimes feels as if they have forgotten how to lose and after falling behind to a first-half goal from Rodrygo, Kevin De Bruyne equalised 15 minutes from time to level the scores at 1-1 on the night and 4-4 on aggregate and send the tie into extra time.
Still they could not be separated. And so came the lottery of penalties.
City started perfectly, with Julian Alvarez converting his and Luka Modric missing Real Madrid’s first, only for Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic to see their penalties saved and send Carlo Ancelotti’s side through.
It is easy to forget sometimes, because of the quality of their meetings, that this is still a young rivalry. City barely appeared in the european Cup or Champions League before they were bought by Abu Dhabi and the first time the teams ever met was September 2012. Now, though, they have become familiar rivals and City have had the better of recent meetings. City’s record at the etihad tells a part of that story, too. They had won 28 and drawn two of their last 30 home games in the Champions League before this match. They had not lost at home in the competition since a defeat by Lyon 2,038 days ago.
Last season’s semi-final second leg tie between the two teams at the etihad produced one of the finest City performances ever under Pep Guardiola. Some consider it the high-water-mark even of his all-conquering reign at the club, as City swept Madrid aside with a mesmerising 4-0 win.
The sides had drawn the first leg in Madrid last season, too, but City were irresistible when the teams met in Manchester. Bernardo Silva scored two and foden’s pass to Alvarez to set up the fourth was poetry. It was the kind of display that made everyone believe they were going to win the Treble.
This time, the second leg had been billed, in england at least, as a rematch between Phil foden and Jude Bellingham, the two outstanding young talents in the squad Gareth Southgate will take to the european Championship this summer.
even foden, who played wide in the first half and struggled to make the same impact as he did last week, was talking up Bellingham, who had scored 20 goals in his first 34 appearances for the Spanish giants and is still only 20. ‘I feel like he’s got a gift from God,’ foden said of his partner in precociousness. ‘I’ve never seen someone so mature for their age.’
The facts back foden up. This was his 31st Champions League appearance and only Cesc fabregas, Roque Santa Cruz and Iker Casillas have made more before the age of 21.
The start was more conservative this time than it had been last week or last year. It was not until the 10th minute when eduardo Camavinga managed the first shot of the game, a curling effort that was comfortably saved by ederson, but it was still against the run of play when Madrid took the lead two minutes later.
Bellingham, who had been chasing and harrying and trying to knock City out of their stride as they built from the back, took a high ball down with exquisite control on the half way line and fed the ball out to federico Valverde on the right.
Valverde slipped the ball to Vinicius Junior and his low cross seemed to catch Kyle walker off balance at the back post. He slipped as the ball went behind him and Rodrygo lashed it goalwards from six yards out. ederson made a superb reaction save but the ball went straight back to Rodrygo and this time he rammed it home.
City laid siege to the Madrid goal immediately. erling Haaland wrong-footed Andriy Lunin with a looping header that rebounded off the face of the crossbar and fell to Bernardo Silva but, with the goal gaping, he could not adjust his body in time to steer the ball home and it bounced off his shin and into touch.
City threatened again 20 minutes before half-time when they took a quick free kick as Dani Carvajal lay complaining of an injury near the touchline. City worked the ball to De Bruyne on the right and his stinging shot was beaten away by Lunin at full stretch. Madrid were furious play had not been halted so Carvajal could be treated.
Ten minutes later, after a couple of scares caused by lightning Madrid breakaways, Haaland broke through the visitors’ defensive line and spread the ball left to Jack Grealish. Grealish ran in on goal and speared in a left-foot shot but Antonio Rudiger made a superb saving challenge and deflected the ball wide.
City started the second half like furies and Grealish smashed a superb volley goalwards from the edge of the area as Madrid struggled to clear a corner. It was straight at Lunin.
City came close again a couple of minutes later. Under pressure from Haaland, Nacho tried to shepherd the ball back to Lunin and then lost his nerve at the last minute and tapped it back to him. By then, Lunin had come to gather the ball so Nacho only succeeded in prodding it past him. Haaland tried to force it into the net as it rolled towards the line but Nacho hooked it away in the nick of time. Just when time seemed to be running out and City grew more and more frustrated, substitute Jeremy Doku cut in from the left with a quarter of an hour to go and fired in a low cross to the near post.
Rudiger, who had played like a giant until then, scuffed his clearance straight to the feet of De Bruyne. De Bruyne took one touch to control it and, with the second, he lifted his shot high into the roof of the net from a few yards out. A roar of relief and exultation rolled around the ground.
De Bruyne missed a golden chance to win the game soon after, leaning back and skying a shot over the bar, but City were still alive. The express was back on the road again, but not for long.
City could not have started the shootout any better, with Alvarez converting and then Modric,
faced with a cacophany of boos from the City fans, seeing his spot kick saved by Ederson.
But then Silva hit his kick straight at Lunin and Bellingham levelled it at 1-1 before Kovacic had his penalty saved by Lunin’s legs. There were no more misses and no way back, with Antonio Rudiger scoring Real’s fifth and decisive spot kick.
MAN CITY (4-1-4-1): Ederson 6.5; Walker 7, Akanji 7 (Stones 112min), Dias 6.5, Gvardiol 7; Rodri 7; De Bruyne 7.5 (Kovacic 112) Silva 7, Foden 6.5, Grealish 6.5 (Doku 71, 7); Haaland 6.5 (Alvarez 90, 6.5). Scorer: De Bruyne 76. Booked: Grealish, Gvardiol, Rodri. Manager: Pep Guardiola 7. REAL MADRID (4-2-3-1): LUNIN 8; Carvajal 7.5 (Militao 110), Rudiger 7, Nacho 6, Mendy 6.5; Kroos 6.5 (Modric 79, 5.5), Camavinga 6.5; Valverde 6, Bellingham 7, Rodrygo 6.5 (Diaz 84, 6.5); Vinicius 6.5 (Vazquez 102, 5.5). Scorer: Rodrygo 12. Booked: Carvajal, Mendy. Manager: Carlo Ancelotti 6.5. Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy) 7. Attendance: 52,306.