The La Liga champions just never gave up and the Bernabeu witnessed a magical evening once more. Let’s have a look at the talking points from this thrilling game.
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Real Madrid produced yet another magical night in the Champions League of 2021/22. Seemingly dead and out like they were against Paris-Saint Germain and Chelsea, the La Liga champions just never gave up and the Bernabeu witnessed a magical evening once more. What seemed to be smooth going for Manchester City turned out to be a horrible end for them as they capitulated to the pressure from Real Madrid in the end. Mahrez put City in front in Madrid and the aggregate lead rose to two for the English club. Super substitution by Ancelotti in Rodrygo, however, spoiled the party for City as he scored two very late goals to take the game into extra-time. An inevitable Karim Benzema goal then ensured Madrid’s place in the final. Let’s have a look at the talking points from this thrilling game.
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There is a famous saying in Europe that ‘90 minutes in the Bernabeu is an eternity’. Well, PSG, Chelsea and City would all agree to that. Seemingly favourites in their respective ties, all these three teams crumbled under the atmosphere that the Bernabeu generates. Real Madrid don’t possess a very strong squad this season and no one considered themselves as favourites in this season’s Champions League. But here they are one step away from their 14th Champions League title. Santiago Bernabeu which did not witness European football for more than a year has come to life every time Real Madrid has needed it.
In all the three knockout ties till now, the Bernabeu has exploded and no team has been able to survive under it. The fans along with the players exhibit the history their club has and that has allowed them to act as the 12th man for their team. The Bernabeu will start booing when the team is not performing well and the players will take it as a motivation to play better. As soon as Rodrygo scored his first goal, the belief was generated once again and City simply just couldn’t deal with the wave of positive energy and encouragement that the Bernabeu gave.
With Guardiola’s side seemingly cruising and the final within their sights, he made some bold moves by taking Kevin De Bruyne, goalscorer, Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus out for Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho and Jack Grealish. While these alterations gave an impression that the Spaniard wanted his team to see out the game by providing more defensive stability and control, it ultimately backfired for him. It was very much evident that City weren’t playing their usual game in the last 15 minutes or so.
In extra-time with the Premier League leaders chasing the game, the lack of attacking options on the pitch for them cost them dear as they were never really a threat to the Madrid goal in those 30 minutes. Players like Kevin De Bruyne who didn’t have his best of games could still have had an impact on the match in the added period when all it needed was a goal for City to restore parity. While the thinking behind those changes was to absorb the pressure from Madrid, it proved to be detrimental for Guardiola and his side.
Real Madrid were heavily criticized for their defensive display against Manchester City in the first leg. One of the reasons for that was the absence of Casemiro. Over the years, Casemiro has played a big role in the success of Los Blancos by doing the ‘dirty’ work for his team and providing defensive cover when needed. Real Madrid really missed all of this in Manchester. The success that they tasted in the second leg, a huge credit for that must go to the Brazilian.
Toni Kroos stated after the match that Carlo Ancelotti changed the system to two holding midifielders to neutralize the threat from City’s attacking midfielders and Casemiro played his role perfectly. Fortunate to have survived a possible sending-off, Casemiro shielded Madrid’s defensive line as he so often does and ensured City didn’t run away with the tie. Many experts had believed that his presence in the second leg will play a vital role if Madrid were to reverse their fortunes from the first leg and so it did.
