Manchester City sacrifice themselves in the final minutes and fall to Real Madrid
Pep Guardiola's team was condemned by their own mistakes, and was winning ten minutes from the end (2-3)
BarcelonaManchester City and Real Madrid showed their urgency in a round of 32 match in which, a priori, neither of the two teams should have been involved. Neither the English nor the Madrid side did their homework well in the qualifying round and that now forces them to play a two-legged tie in which the Whites got a great haul in their visit to the Etihad (2-3). Pep Guardiola's team was leading on the scoreboard ten minutes from the end, but two errors in the final stages allowed the Whites to take the victory to Madrid, where the return leg will be played.
The first half was a reflection of the situation of both teams, with uncertainties, doubts, but also good minutes on both sides. City, brave, came out to pinch Madrid up front. The Whites started out uncomfortable, but knew how to cheer up and begin to find the defensive seams of a local team that knew how to overcome the worst moments of the first half. Ancelotti's men were the first to smell the goal, with three dangerous actions practically consecutive, but between the stops of the Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson, an offside that prevented a penalty for Vinícius and the poor aim of Mendy, City were able to survive the initial attacks of the Madrid team.
Guardiola's men not only knew how to suffer, but they reacted in the sweetest way possible: with a goal. Good ball output, one of those that remind us of the times when the team Citizens The game was brilliant, and ended with Grealish serving a ball into the heart of the area that Gvardiol, with his chest, passed to Haaland who finished with one of the few loofahs that followed him: the Norwegian had never scored for Real Madrid. This record has now been erased, because the striker of the English team finished with his left foot from close range to put the ball in the back of the goal defended by Courtois. The goal was not without suspense, because it took up to four minutes of review by the VAR to declare that it was not offside.
Bad luck with injuries continues to plague City. Grealish, who is having a difficult season in Manchester and who will surely be one of the players who will leave the team at the end of this season, had to ask to be substituted. Foden, another player who has not yet found the consistency of times past, was his substitute. With the goal, the home team regained their self-esteem, but Madrid did not shrink and Vinícius sent a shot against the post. Ancelotti's men knew how to put fear into the bodies of the English again, who also said theirs with a shot against the crossbar by Akajani, who would also end up asking to be substituted due to injury at half-time.
City would go into the locker room leading the scoreboard and breathing easier because Mbappé sent a clear shot into the clouds just before the end of the first half. In the resumption, the woodwork was again the protagonist. This time, denying Haaland a goal, who would have scored a double. Madrid's response was a shot off target from Rodrygo and a one-touch shot from Mbappé that was saved with a great save from Ederson.
Mbappé equalizes with a soft foot
Things would start to go wrong for City on the hour mark. After a free kick was blocked by the defence, Ceballos served a sweet in the area that Mbappé, finishing very poorly with his shin, would end up converting into the equaliser. The Frenchman's goal reopened the wounds of a City that would become a custard. The siege began. Ederson, who hesitated in coming out, ended up making a giant to stop a one-on-one with Bellingham.
Luckily, City knew how to recover when they were most hurt. Ceballos, a fool, made a very clear penalty on Foden just outside the edge of the area. Now, Haaland could have scored twice. It seemed that Pep Guardiola's team was regaining faith. But nothing of the sort. A mistake in the ball output by Ederson ended with the equaliser by a former player of the English team, Brahim. The wound would be even worse, a defensive lapse and a bad exit by the Brazilian goalkeeper ended with the third, the work of Bellingham. The return to Madrid could be hell for City.