Rodrygo inspires late, late Real Madrid comeback to knock out Manchester City
MANCHESTER CITY were knocked out of the Champions League semi-finals by Real Madrid after a stunning 3-1 defeat at the Bernabeu last night.
City led 1-0 – and one foot in the final to face Liverpool – heading into stoppage time, when two goals from Rodrygo turned the tie on its head to force extra-time, when Karim Benzema clinched victory from the penalty spot. The 3-1 secondleg extra-time loss sealed a 6-5 aggregate defeat.
Both sides had chances in a goalless first half.
Real, needing to force the pace, had the better opportunities but Benzema was twice off-target early on.
At the other end, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden both worked home goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The tension was evident, with Aymeric Laporte and Luka Modric both booked after a coming-together in the opening minutes.
City rode their luck early in the second half but survived a number of scares and took a firm grip on the tie when Riyad Mahrez broke the deadlock after 73 minutes.
Silva found space to run at the Real defence and found Mahrez to his right on the edge of the area.
City’s top scorer this season swept a powerful shot into the top corner to put the visitors 1-0 ahead and 5-3 up on aggregate.
Real set up a grandstand finish as Rodrygo cut the aggregate deficit to 5-4 by flicking home in the 90th minute.
More drama was to follow as Rodrygo headed another in stoppage time to level the tie at 5-5.
Real, having come from behind in the previous two rounds against Paris St Germain and Chelsea, continued the fightback to claim the lead early in extra time.
It came from the penalty spot after Ruben Dias was adjudged to have fouled Benzema.
Benzema stepped up to tuck the ball into the bottom corner to give Real a 3-1 lead and 6-5 aggregate advantage.