On April 18, 2024, Beijing time, in the early morning, the second leg of the Champions League 1/4 finals ended the last 2 games, and finally Manchester City drew 1-1 with Real Madrid at home, 4-5 on penalties, Real Madrid eliminated the defending champion Manchester City and successfully advanced to the semifinals, Bayern defeated Arsenal 1-0 at home, 3-2 over two legs, and successfully advanced to the Champions League semifinals.
1. Manchester City 1-1 (4-5) Real Madrid
In the first leg of the match, the two teams had a wonderful battle at the Bernabeu Stadium, with three world waves in the second half, and finally the two teams drew 3-3. The winner will advance to the top 4 and hit the championship, while the loser will be eliminated!
The last meeting between the two giants was in the semi-finals of last season's Champions League, where Manchester City drew 1-1 away at Real Madrid, and then returned to home B to score twice to help Manchester City win 4-0, knocking out Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate over two legs to advance to the final and finally win the first Champions League title in team history. It is worth mentioning that Manchester City has scored at least 2 goals per game in the last 4 home games against Real Madrid in all competitions, and won all of them. It can be seen that Manchester City has a psychological advantage. Real Madrid, as the Champions League hegemon, of course, is not afraid of any team.
Returning to the focus of the game, Manchester City sent a 3241 formation, Ederson started the goalkeeper, the back three were Walker, Dias and Gvardiol, the two midfielders Akanji and Rodri, the four midfielders, Foden, De Bruyne, B, Grealish, single striker, Haaland.
Real Madrid sent a 442 formation, with Lunin as the starting goalkeeper, Mendy, Nacho, Rudiger, Carvajal in the back four, Rodrygo, Kroos, Camavinga, Valverde in the midfield, Vinicius and Bellingham in the attack.
Manchester City is the main team, Real Madrid is not inferior, the starting lineups of the two sides are quite luxurious, with a total of more than 1.5 billion euros. The match between Manchester City and Real Madrid represents the highest level of European football today, and of course, this game is not only a contest of strength, but also a contest of strategy between the two managers.
After the start of the game, Real Madrid, who played away, was not afraid of any history, took the lead in attacking away, and after many attempts, finally broke the deadlock on the field in the 12th minute, Bellingham gave the ball to Valverde on the side, who gave the ball to Vinicius in the penalty area, and the Brazilian Bear crossed the right side of the penalty area, Rodrygo's first shot was saved, and then he scored with a clever shot, Real Madrid led 1-0 away, and the aggregate score was 4-3 Manchester City.
After the goal, both sides attacked one after another.
In the 19th minute, Gvardiol distributed the ball to De Bruyne in the middle circle, De Bruyne passed to the penalty area and was cleared, and the periphery continued to cross, Haaland's header hit the crossbar, Manchester City missed the opportunity to equalize, and Real Madrid escaped. In the 27th minute, De Bruyne's shot was also saved by Lunin.
De Bruyne attacked aggressively in the first half, but City did not score, and Real Madrid took a one-goal lead away from home through Rodrygo's goal to take a 4-3 lead on aggregate.
At the start of the second half, Manchester City were still under siege against Real Madrid. Real Madrid took advantage of the limited opportunities to continue to harass Manchester City, and in the 71st minute, Grealish fired a cold shot, Lunin saved, but fortunately, the second reaction quickly held the ball. Manchester City couldn't attack for a long time and began to make substitutions, and in the 73rd minute, Pep Guardiola replaced Grealish and replaced Doku.
The substitution was an immediate surprise, in the 76th minute, Doku crossed into the box, Rudiger made a mistake in clearing, De Bruyne scored in the rebound, Manchester City rewrote the score on the field to 1-1, and the aggregate score between the two sides was 4-4.
There is still suspense in the game. After the goal, Manchester City still had a great chance, in the 82nd minute, Manchester City throw-in, Rodri gave Doku, Doku passed the ball to the penalty area, the unmarked De Bruyne actually hit high, Manchester City wasted the opportunity to lead.
After 90 minutes of regular time, the two sides played to a 1-1 scoreline, and the score was 4-4. The game went into 30 minutes of extra time and Pep Guardiola replaced Haaland with Alvarez. At the end of the first half of extra time, Lu Ning opened his foot in the backfield, Real Madrid crossed the ball on the right side of the front, Akanchi cleared the ball and kicked it empty, Rudiger followed up and shot high, this is the best chance for Real Madrid in the whole game, except for Rodrygo's goal.
In the second half of extra time, the players were at the limit of their fitness, and neither side could score, and the game went into a brutal penalty shootout.
Manchester City took the lead in the penalty, deceived Lunin and hit it steadily.
Real Madrid Luka Modric took the first penalty, but unfortunately it was saved by Ederson.
Manchester City's second penalty in seat B, Lunin saved.
Jude Bellingham took the second penalty for Real Madrid, tricking Ederson into the bottom left corner.
Mateo Kovacic's third penalty for Manchester City was miraculously saved by Lunin.
Vázquez deceived Ederson into the bottom left corner from the penalty spot.
Foden converted the penalty to keep the game in suspense.
Nacho deceived Ederson with an easy penalty from the spot-kick.
Ederson made his fifth appearance for Manchester City and scored into the bottom left corner against Lunin.
Toni Rudiger's last, and crucial penalty, gave the magical Real Madrid an away win over Manchester City to reach the semi-finals. After qualifying, Real Madrid will celebrate wildly, and Manchester City's defeat broke the 30-game unbeaten run at home in the Champions League.
2. Bayern Munich 1-0 Arsenal
In the first leg between the two sides, Arsenal and Manchester City scored two goals each at the home of the Gunners, and the two sides drew 2-2, leaving the suspense of the game to the second leg.
In last weekend's Bundesliga, Bayern beat Cologne, but Bayer Leverkusen beat Bremen to win the Bundesliga title ahead of schedule, so Bayern only have one front left to fight for the Champions League trophy this season. In the first leg of the Champions League 1/4 finals and Arsenal, Bayern almost firmly suppressed Arsenal at the tactical level, and this time they have a home advantage for Bayern, and Nanda King has been unbeaten at home in the Champions League for 13 consecutive games, Bayern has a strong psychological advantage.
Arsenal took the lead with Liverpool in last week's Premier League match, Liverpool 0-1 at home to Crystal Palace, Arsenal lost 0-2 to Villa, and ranked second in the Premier League standings with Liverpool on the same points.
The record of the two sides, Arsenal has only beaten Bayern away in the Champions League once before (1 draw and 4 losses in the rest of the games), 2015/2016 Champions League, Bayern 5-1 Arsenal, 2016/2017 Champions League, Bayern 5-1 Arsenal, Allianz Arena can be called the Gunners' sad place. Arsenal's only win was also due to a low number of away goals. However, the Gunners have been excellent on the road this season, conceding just one goal in their last six away games and keeping three clean sheets on the road. Tough defence is exactly what Arsenal rely on to fight for miracles at the Allianz Arena. Of course, Bayern are certainly better than most teams in the Premier League. For both sides, this game is not simply the Champions League quarterfinals, but also a battle for glory and dignity. It is also a crucial battle for Kane to retain his title hopes.
Bayern sent a 4231 formation, with Manuel Neuer starting goalkeeper, Kimmich, De Ligt, Dier, Mazraoui in the back four, Goretzka and Laimer partnering in the back, Sane Muciala Guerreiro behind the lone striker Kane to provide firepower support.
Arsenal lined up a 433 formation, Raya as the starting goalkeeper, Kenhiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel, Saliba, White at the back four, Rice, Jorginho, Odegaard three midfielders, Martinelli, Havertz, Saka three forwards.
The 70,000-strong Allianz Arena was packed, and in the end, Bayern Munich relied on Kimmich's goal to reach the last four of the Champions League, and Kane continued to retain their title hopes.
After the opening, the two sides actively looked for opportunities to attack, in the 25th minute, Mazraoui crossed in front of the goal, Raya blocked the bottom line, and in the 30th minute, Tomiyasu Jianyang got the ball to Odegaard in front of him, who shot with his foot and was saved by Neuer. Both sides had a dangerous shot on goal.
Neither side scored in the first half, and the suspense of the game remained maintained.
At the beginning of the second half, Bayern took the lead in a very offensive wave. In the 47th minute, Bayern countered Kimmich to the middle, Goretzka's header hit the crossbar, and his teammates' follow-up shots were blocked out of the bottom line.
Bayern's relentless attack finally paid off in the 64th minute. Odegaard cut through, Mazraoui broke the ball to Laimer, Sane dribbled to the middle, the shot was saved, Guerreiro took the ball and crossed to the middle of the box, Kimmich cut in and scored with a header. Bayern finally broke the deadlock on the pitch, leading Arsenal 1-0 and Bayern 3-2 on aggregate.
Bayern still had a chance after the goal, and in the 72nd minute, they made a series of dangers in front of the Arsenal goal, and Kimmich's follow-up shot was also blocked.
Later, both sides had good chances to score, and the goalkeepers on both sides played well, and the score remained 1-0 until the end of the game, and finally Bayern Munich defeated Arsenal 1-0 at home, returning to the Champions League semi-finals after four years, which is also the 13th time in the history of Bayern Munich to advance to the Champions League semi-finals, surpassing Barcelona and ranking second in history. Arsenal faced Bayern Munich five times in the knockout rounds of the Champions League, but they were all eliminated, and they also missed the Champions League semi-finals after 15 years. Arsenal not only dropped the chain in the league, but also went out of the Champions League. The lack of depth in the squad is the main reason, and the lack of a tall center is the fatal reason.