Such nights just visit and not only take away your sleep - but cut short your lifeline as well. This season, Real Madrid seem to be on a mission to win matches by making the weather heavy and at Etihad, it was a 7-goal encounter that left everyone at the edge of their seats till the end.
Manchester City had their say in the 2019-20 season in both the legs. In the return leg, Madrid were outclassed, and to beat this marvelous City side of Pep Guardiola, you have at your very best.
Real Madrid threw plenty at Manchester City in Etihad.
Every time Manchester City thought they had the game won by a handy two-goal margin, Madrid reined them in. One goal is nothing when a club has Karim Benzema as their striker. He has averaged a goal a game in 41 across this campaign. Vinicius Junior is a huge threat too.
Manchester City scored four and could do the same again in the second leg. They are that sort of side. The four could have been eight had City taken their chances. They were the better team – but couldn’t put Madrid away and there is no reason to imagine anything but the same frenzy in round two next Wednesday.
The final two goals, scored late, summed it up. City thinking they had the job done, Madrid reckoning otherwise. It was like that throughout the game. City led 2-0 which became 2-1; they led 3-1 which became 3-2; they led 4-2 which ended up 4-3. So Madrid trailed for 88 minutes and 27 seconds of this match, and yet are somehow still very much in it.
Guardiola’s fury at some of the missed chances was understandable. Particularly in the first half City had the chance to decide this tie and did not take it. If their campaign ends in disappointment those will be the moments the manager most regrets.
So this was 90 minutes of high octane, high energy and high quality – going forward, defensively not so much – but the last two goals both contained elements of good fortune. City’s goal came because Real Madrid did not play to the whistle, Madrid’s because the modern rules on handball have little truck with intention or fairness.
There were 74 minutes gone when Oleksandr Zinchenko was spectacularly upended by Dani Carvajal near the edge of the area. Even Madrid’s players acknowledged the foul and some of them stopped.
Not all, though. So there was movement around Bernardo Silva as he took the ball into the area, there were players who realised Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs was playing advantage. Among those at rest, however, was goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. So when Silva shot he barely moved. But Kovacs was quite adamant it was a fair goal.
City looked to be taking a two-goal lead to the Bernabeu.
In 2016-17, City went out after conceding six goals in two games against AS Monaco in the quarterfinals. A year later, a 5-1 aggregate defeat against Liverpool ended their hopes at the same stage. The following year, it was an exit on away goals against Tottenham Hotspur after a 4-4 aggregate draw in the last eight, with Lyon winning 3-1 in the COVID-19 impacted one-legged quarterfinal in 2020.
Only last season, when City beat Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 on aggregate in the semifinals, have they bucked the trend, but 12 months on, it’s a case of ‘here we go again’ and they have ensured that a second leg which should have been a non-event is now another must-see occasion which could end up with either team progressing to the final.
City had been so dominant that they really shouldn’t have been trying to hold on for a 4-3 win in the final minutes, but they have now conceded 8 goals in three games against Liverpool (twice) and Real in recent weeks, so their frailties against the top sides will be a concern ahead of the second-leg.
Real have shown real spirit and determination at the Bernabeu in the knock-out stages, fighting back from losing positions to eliminate both PSG and Chelsea in previous rounds, so City will be entering the Lion’s Den. But their most dangerous opponent will be themselves if they fail to defend themselves properly.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
No comments:
Post a Comment