Manchester City, whose total value is nearly 200 million euros more than Real Madrid, once again saw the defending champions of the Champions League at the Bernabeu Stadium, and the upper hand of the scene failed to bring a deadlock goal to Guardiola's team, but was narrowly blocked by Vinicius. Fortunately, compared to the previous two Champions League semi-finals away goal defeat, this time De Bruyne stepped up.
Whether it's 90 minutes of spectacular fighting or two amazing world waves, they all show the high level of "the pinnacle of the Champions League of the season". What makes the fans' blood boil is that such a "final-level performance" can also be watched in the second half of Manchester City.
A year later, the two teams reunited in the semi-finals, with Real Madrid squad virtually unchanged from last season, but City added Europe's number one goal-scoring machine, Haaland. Carlo Ancelotti has chosen Antonio Rudiger and Alaba to pair up centre-back in order to contain Haaland as much as possible. The cooperation between the two almost completely curbed the Norwegian killer's play, and Haaland had few opportunities in the whole game, completely losing the spirit of killing all sides in the Premier League.
On the other side of the pitch, Manchester City also did not give Benzema a chance to threaten the goal, and the midfield led by the newly injured Modric was completely suppressed by the Manchester City midfield, with limited support for the attacking line. City were more aggressive in their response, with Courtois being tested by De Bruyne and Rodri's shots, with 75% possession in the first 25 minutes.
But City's attacking tempo may be exactly what fans at the Bernabeu are looking forward to. The midfield is limited, but Real Madrid's wings are still threatening enough, especially on the left flank where Vinicius and Camavinga are played. In the 24th minute of the first half, the Brazilian winger, who has been in excellent form this season, made a steal against Rodri, and the subsequent cross was also cleared by Rubén Diaskan; Ten minutes later, the French defender, who switched to left-back, ran long with the ball in the middle of the field and scored the ball after Vinicius broke through Ederson's goal from outside the box, giving Real Madrid a fantastic start.
With this goal, Vinicius has already surpassed his predecessor Ronaldo in the Champions League in the Champions League (15 goals). Moreover, this season, he has scored in seven consecutive Champions League games, and the three knockout rounds against Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City are all interested in harvesting, and 7 of the 11 goals scored by Real Madrid in the five knockout games are related to Vinicius, a veritable "Premier League nemesis". With 7 goals and 5 assists in 11 occasions in the Champions League this season, he averaged more than 1 goal per game, which is completely the efficiency of a top scorer.
Camavinga, who was transformed into a left-back by Ancelotti, experienced a double of ice and fire in the first and second halfes. While Real Madrid fans were still delighted that the half-way full-back was playing at the level of the world's No. 1 left-back, his careless pass ruined the team's entire effort, and in fact he had a chance to remedy the goal, but he did not choose to step forward to block before De Bruyne took a long-range shot.
Before the match, the Spanish media identified Haaland and Vinicius as decisive figures in the winner of the match, and Real Madrid successfully contained Haaland and liberated Vinicius, but the advantage was destroyed by the equally in-form De Bruyne.
De Bruyne's long-range shot was undoubtedly brilliant, but the goal caused some controversy after the game, and the BeIN sports channel showed in a 3D replay that B. Silva's save on the wing had gone out of bounds before De Bruyne received the ball and shot, but the referee did not make a decision in time. Carlo Ancelotti also made a rare criticism of the referee after the game, "I don't think the referee is very attentive, this is a situation that VAR has to control. The Real Madrid boss pointed out that the team could have gone away from home with a psychological advantage of 1-0.
Guardiola once again chose 11 men to finish the game, showing his trust and caution in the main squad. Ancelotti also did not go too aggressive in his home win, with Rodrigo, Kroos and Modric all substituted after 80 minutes, preferring to accept a 1-1 draw rather than be used by Manchester City to stage a last-minute shootout. Manchester City's goal was controversial in every detail, but judging from the content of the game, the two sides were indeed evenly divided.
The fate of the two giants can only be determined at Manchester City's home stadium in the second leg.
This is Carlo Ancelotti's 190th Champions League game, and the Italian equals Alex Ferguson for the most Champions League coaches, and at least the semi-final second leg is still unplayed, surpassing the Lord to the top of the table is a foregone conclusion. As a coach of Real Madrid and Bayern, he played five meetings with Pep Guardiola in the Champions League, with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, and the overall prevail. However, last season the two actually won one game each, and this time Guardiola took one point from the Bernabeu to take the advantage. After all, Real Madrid had gone unwinless at home in the first leg of their nine Champions League knockout matches, and only qualified in 1999/2000 and 2012/13.
Last season's semi-final meeting was a nightmare for Manchester City, with Real Madrid scoring two goals in injury time in the second leg to end the Blues' final dream in extra time. But Guardiola didn't bother too much: "We're not here for revenge, we're here to look for opportunities." Although Walker, who replaced Ake, did not effectively contain Vinicius on the wing, Pep Guardiola was still successful in limiting the ceremonial midfield of losing Casemiro, and Real Madrid's goals at home relied more on the inspiration of the star.
Manchester City's strength at home has also made Blue Moon fans have higher expectations. They scored 10 goals in two home games in the previous two knockout matches, sending away the Bundesliga lasters. Manchester City's last home defeat in the Champions League was last time they were forced into a blank slate by Sporting Portugal in the quarter-final, but they were replaced by a rotation after a five-goal away win in the first leg. The real winless run at home in the knockout stages of the Champions League was the English civil war against Liverpool in the quarter-final five years ago, losing 2-1 at home. In the previous 13 home games in Europe, the Spanish team has only lost to Barcelona twice, and against Real Madrid, they are unbeaten with 2 wins and 2 draws.
Pep Guardiola's side also have a 56% possession advantage at the Bernabeu and far more efficient shots (10 shots and 6 targets) than Real Madrid (13 shots, 3 shots). Manchester City took away more than a draw, but enough confidence. In terms of favourites, Manchester City's probable lead was further extended after the first leg. But for the Real Madrid players, they do not need the support of data, and the Champions League trophies in the honor room are their greatest strength.