It was a night to remember for Manchester City fans at the Etihad on Wednesday, with the Citizens demolishing holders Real Madrid to book a place in the Champions League final in Istanbul.
City were relentless, as they cruised past the Spanish side in spectacular fashion to secure a 5-1 aggregate win and move one step closer to a famous treble, that could see them become just the second English side to achieve that feat after rivals Manchester United back in 1999.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side didn’t know what had hit them in the first half, with wave after wave of City attacks threatening Thibaut Courtois’ goal. The Belgian had made two incredible saves to deny Erling Haaland early on, before he was finally beaten in the 23rd minute by Bernardo Silva, after he was expertly found by Kevin De Bruyne, who recorded his 25th assist of the campaign across all competitions.
The Portuguese playmaker then added a second just 14 minutes later as City took full control of the tie, his third semi-final goal against Los Blancos in the previous two seasons, after some fine work from Jack Grealish and Ilkay Gundogan.
HT: Man City 2-0 (3-1) Real Madrid:
xG: 1.54-0.01
Shots: 13-1
Shots on target: 5-0
Touches in opp. box: 24-2
Possession: 71.9%-28.1%Complete domination. ?#UCL pic.twitter.com/KqiG1wFvpI
— Play Squawka Selector for Free (@Squawka_Live) May 17, 2023
Madrid tried to find their way back into the tie to no avail in the second half, until Manuel Akanji put the semi-final beyond their reach in 76th minute with a deflected header that gave Courtois no chance. Substitute Julian Alvarez made it four in stoppage time, just two minutes after coming on and put the icing on the cake in what was one of the best performances by a side in the Champions League era.
There were jubilant scenes after the full-time whistle, but it wasn’t all sweetness and light during the game, with Kevin De Bruyne seeming to come to blows with manager Pep Guardiola during the second half. TV cameras looked to have shown the Belgian shouting back at his manager to “Shut up, shut up” after the midfielder had given away possession more than once in the space of less than five minutes, something that had clearly upset the Spaniard.
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All seemed to have been forgotten when KDB was replaced by Phil Foden with just six minutes remaining though, as Pep brought him in for a huge bear hug before allowing him to sit down and the Spaniard explained to Movistar after the game why he was shouting at his midfielder.
“At 2-0 we rushed a lot. Right after the break Gundogan lost a ball, Kevin made three transitions that weren’t necessary and we rushed a lot when we had to do the opposite, sink them and turn them, sink them and turn them. But it’s normal. It gets close, you rush, and it has cost us more, although in general we have had an extraordinary game.”
Even after such an impressive performance, Pep is always demanding perfection and that’s what makes him the best in the business.