In the early morning of April 18, the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals continued, and the defending champion Manchester City hosted Real Madrid, the 14-time winner of the Champions League, and the first leg was a 3-3 draw. In the end, both sides scored one goal in the first and second halves, and the game was 1-1 in 90 minutes, and the overall score was 4-4. In extra time, both sides did not achieve anything, and in the penalty shootout, Real Madrid won 4-3 and eliminated Manchester City to break into the semi-finals!
This is the third year in a row that the two giants have met in the knockout stages of the Champions League, with each team knocking out their opponents once in the previous two times. In the semi-finals last season, Real Madrid drew 1-1 at home and were eliminated 0-4 away. At Manchester City's home stadium, Real Madrid has not tasted victory in the last 5 away games, 2 draws and 3 defeats, and has suffered defeats in the last 3 games.
The two teams are the leaders of their respective leagues, Real Madrid are unbeaten in the last 15 games in all competitions with 10 wins and 5 draws, and have won four consecutive league games to lead La Liga with 8 points ahead of Barcelona. Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 27 games in all competitions with an astonishing 22 wins and five draws, and are two points ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal in the Premier League.
In terms of starters, compared with the first leg, Manchester City welcomed back a number of injured players such as Walker, De Bruyne, Ake and Ederson. Erling Haaland continued to play as a central striker, with Foden, Bench B, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Rodri forming a midfield five, Dias and Akanji partnering in central defence, Walker and Gvardiol on either side, and Ederson returning to the starting XI at the weekend in goal.
On the Real Madrid side, due to the accumulation of yellow cards and suspension of Tchouameni who played a cameo in the first leg of the central defender, captain Nacho started with Rudiger, and the rest of the positions remained unchanged from the last game, the forward line is still Vinicius, Rodrygo, Bellingham The attacking trio, the midfielders are Kroos, Camavinga and Valverde, the wings are Mendy, Carvajal, and the goalkeeper is Lunin.
After the start of the game, Manchester City still used high-pressure tactics in the front court to press Real Madrid to play the ball at the back, and Real Madrid played the same tactics as in the first leg, with Rodrygo playing on the left side, Vinicius Jr. to the center forward, and Bellingham retreating to the midfield at the right time to help the team switch between attack and defense. For Manchester City, the B seat appeared on the left side of the midfield, and the right side was more organized by Kevin De Bruyne, Akanji replaced the role of John Stones, and the attacking midfield came to help sort out the ball.
In the 10th minute, Valverde split the ball on the right, Camavinga dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and shot from a distance, and Ederson held the ball firmly. In the 12th minute, Bellingham stopped the high ball in front of the field and split the side, Valverde went straight, Vinicius crossed the penalty area with a low flat ball, and Rodrygo successfully broke through the Manchester City gate with two consecutive shots in front of the goal, 0-1! Manchester City fell behind at home.
In the 14th minute, De Bruyne's corner kick was directly shot by Lunin with one hand. In the 16th minute, Grealish saved the ball near the bottom line on the left side, crossed from seat B, and Haaland headed high in the penalty area. After taking the lead, Real Madrid's formation was properly recycled, and Manchester City continued to get chances to score. In the 18th minute, De Bruyne's cross was saved by Lunin, and City then organized another attack, Haaland hit the crossbar with a header, and the ball bounced off the leg of the B seat in front of the goal, and Manchester City almost equalised.
In the 23rd minute, Camavinga fought for the top in midfield, Vinicius won the ball in front of the field and crossed, Carvajal's follow-up shot was blocked, and Valverde's subsequent volley was also high. In the 26th minute, De Bruyne advanced from the midfield and shot directly with his right foot, and Lunin saved the ball from the bottom line. From the corner, Haaland's header was again met by Lunin. In the 35th minute, Grealish's shot from the counter-attack on the left was blocked by Rudiger and hit the side-netting.
In the 37th minute, Carvajal received a yellow card for defending Grealish's breakaway, and if Real Madrid make it to the last four, he will also be suspended. In the 44th minute, De Bruyne tried again to take a corner kick directly at the goal, which was saved by the attentive Lunin. In the 45+1st minute, Foden's long-range shot in front of the penalty area went high into the goal. At half-time, Real Madrid led 1-0. City pressed forward after conceding the goal, winning 14 shots and nine corners throughout the first half, but failing to find the back of the net against Real Madrid.
In the second half of the game, the two sides changed sides and fought again, and seat B began to move closer to the right side. In the 46th minute, Grealish's right-footed volley from the left side of the box was punched out by Luning. In the 49th minute, Rodrygo's shot from the left went over the crossbar after cutting inside on the left. In the 51st minute, Nacho made a mistake with Lunin under pressure from Haaland, but he cleared the ball before it rolled into the net. Foden then had a shot from inside the box met by Lunin.
In the 58th minute, Grealish was booked for a tackle on Carvajal in defence. In the 65th minute, De Bruyne shot directly wide from the right without stopping. In the 69th minute, Grealish broke down the left and shot at goal, Lunin saved the ball, but he reacted quickly to save the ball before Haaland could get up. In the 72nd minute, Doku came on to replace Grealish.
In the 75th minute, Doku broke through on the left and crossed, Rudiger fell to the ground and made a mistake, De Bruyne won the ball and scored with his right foot, 1-1! Manchester City finally equalized after a long attack.
In the 78th minute, De Bruyne curled a left-footed shot from the edge of the penalty area that went just over the crossbar. Real Madrid then replaced Kroos with Luka Modric to strengthen control in the midfield and push forward. In the 81st minute, Doku shared the ball, Akanji crossed the ball low, and De Bruyne inserted a push in the center of the penalty area to shoot incredibly high! Brahim Díaz then came on to replace Rodrygo, with the Moroccan striker taking on his former club.
In the 90+2nd minute, Rodri's long-range shot in front of the penalty area was too weak and was saved by Lu Ning. In the 90+4th minute, Manchester City got a corner kick opportunity, Haaland faced the half-empty goal at the back post, and Manchester City missed the opportunity to kill the opponent at the last minute. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw within 90 minutes and went into extra time with an aggregate score of 4-4.
At the beginning of extra time, Pep Guardiola replaced Haaland with Alvarez, and the Norwegian still did not break the embarrassing record of zero goals against Real Madrid. In the 98th minute, a low flat ball from the left side of seat B crossed vigorously, Foden grabbed a shot in the middle and missed the target, and the ball was obtained by Lu Ning. In the 101st minute, Doku's shot after cutting inside on the left was blocked. Real Madrid then replaced Vinicius, who was exhausted, with Vazquez. In the 105+2nd minute, Brahim Dias crossed diagonally into the penalty area, and Rudiger fired a left-footed volley over the crossbar at the front post.
The second half of extra time began immediately after the two sides exchanged venues. In the 109th minute, Militão came on to replace Carvajal, who was unable to hold on with cramps. Subsequently, Manchester City also replaced De Bruyne and Akanji with Mateo Kovacic and Stones. In the 113th minute, Doku broke through on the left and Kovacic's shot was blocked by Rudiger. In the 119th minute, Foden split the ball, and Alvarez's shot from a small angle on the right side of the penalty area was obtained by Lunin.
The two sides then went to penalties. Manchester City have won their previous three European matches on penalties, with Real Madrid substitute goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga giving Lunin a face-to-face face before the shoot-out. In the penalty shootout, in the first two rounds, Modric and B missed the penalty successively, Alvarez and Bellingham scored; in the third round, Lunin saved Kovacic's shot, Vazquez scored; in the fourth round, Foden and Nacho both scored; in the fifth round, Ederson scored, and Rudiger hit the penalty to help Real Madrid win 4-3 on penalties!
Real Madrid knocked out Manchester City on penalties after 120 minutes to reach the semi-finals, where they will face Bayern Munich, who had previously eliminated Arsenal.