The first match of the Champions League semi-finals has officially come to an end, Inter rely on Lautaro's goal to successfully beat AC Milan 3-0 on aggregate, returning to the Champions League final after 13 years. The other match will be played in the early hours of the 18th, Manchester City will face Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium, the first leg at the Bernabeu is 1-1, the Champions League knockout has eliminated the away goal rule, meaning the two sides are still on the same starting line before the match.
Real Madrid came to the Etihad Stadium again after one year, and in the same semifinals last season, Manchester City blossomed more, De Bruyne, Mahrez, Foden, B scored, Benzema scored twice, Vinicius responded with a dragon, Real Madrid lost 3-4 away, laying a certain foundation for the reversal of the second leg. However, in the past 4 times to Manchester City's home stadium, Real Madrid's results are poor 2 draws and 2 defeats, I don't know if Real Madrid can break this curse this time.
Manchester City's home record has always been impressive, and according to the statistics of this season, the Blue Moon have won 21 wins, drawn one and lost one of their last 23 home games, with the only defeat being a loss to Brentford before the World Cup. The Champions League 5 home win rate is also a terrifying 100% win rate, of which Copenhagen scored 5 goals, RB Leipzig 7 goals, Bayern 3 goals, 3 goals in 3 games to 15 goals. With such a powerful firepower, Real Madrid's back line will inevitably be hit by a lot of impact.
In the first leg, the game between Carlo Ancelotti and Guardiola was very exciting, of course, Guardiola once again appeared in the whole game zero substitution or the fan complained: "In Guardiola's opinion, the Champions League substitution is "illegal". It is worth mentioning that in the pre-match interview, the coach said that he had certain ideas in the second round. Fans who are familiar with the coach know that the Spanish coach is often very active, especially in major matches, and does not know what kind of tumultuous operation or blind operation will be brought by the coach this time. TA's tactician Michael Cox said that Guardiola is brewing a new invention, that is, to transform Argentina's No. 9 center Álvarez into a central midfielder.
Alvarez joined City with Haaland last summer, and compared to Haaland's performance, Alvarez is indeed inferior to Buu in scoring goals, but Alvarez still scored 15 goals on multiple substitutes, and he is the only Manchester City player to score in the league, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup and Community Shield this season. Alvarez also scored four goals in last year's World Cup in Qatar, second only to Messi, and the coach wants to transform him very directly, that is, the versatility of the Argentine forward, Alvarez can play multiple positions in the central midfield, and is also very active defensively.
In last week's league game, Manchester City easily won 3-0 away at Everton, Grealish, De Bruyne and Stones, and the two goalscorers Gundogan and Haaland also "clocked out early". For Haaland, he was severely limited by Alaba and Rudiger in the first leg, and rarely scored less than 7 points in the whole game, and I believe Haaland will gain something in the second leg. Haaland has scored 12 Champions League goals this season, five goals short of Cristiano Ronaldo's record of 17 goals in a single season, and I wonder if the in-form Hotman can break the president's record.