Man City 1 Real Madrid 2 (1-5)
Vintage Real Madrid in the Champions League. They just find a way to go through in this competition even when they aren’t at their best. City started pretty strong in the game knowing they needed an early goal with Courtois making some big saves yet again but it was Real Madrid to throw the first punch as Vinicius was played in down the left then cut inside firing a shot off the post which came back off Donnarumma falling to Brahim Diaz who chipped it back into Vinicius who’s shot at goal was blocked off the line by Bernardo Silva with what looked to be his elbow, the linesman then put his flag up indicating that Vini was offside in the buildup from the ball down the line, the decision obviously went to VAR showing that Vini was onside as the referee was brought to the monitor to analyse the alleged handball by Bernardo Silva, it was pretty obvious that he blocked the ball with his elbow and the referee sent him off and awarded Real Madrid a penalty in just the 20th minute. Vini didn’t make the same mistake as last week and scored all but finishing the tie, City hit back just before half-time as Doku played the ball into the box to Haaland who got one back for City in the 40th minute. Madrid defended well in the second half with a man extra and eventually got the win on the night with the last kick of the game as Tchouameni’s cross found Vini at the backpost who blindsided Guehi and finished past Donnarumma to make it 1-5 on aggregate to Real Madrid and send them into the quarter-finals.
They couldn’t could they? Real Madrid have been pretty underwhelming so far this season despite only being four points off Barcelona at the top of La Liga and into the quarter-finals of the Champions League, saying that they have far exceeded my expectations in this tie against Man City as they ran out comfortable winners in the end, helped by a generational performance by Federico Valverde last week and then a red card tonight Madrid just seem to pull the rabbit out of the hat at just the right time. You look at the players Arbeloa brought off the bench tonight in Mbappe, Bellingham, Camavinga and Carvajal along with Lunin who replaced Courtois at half-time through injury and you can make a pretty compelling case for Real Madrid to go far in the competition this year which a lot of us wouldn’t have said a few weeks ago. They’ll have to do it the hard way as they’ll face Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals but Madrid always do it the hard way so it wouldn’t surprise me to at least see them in the final this year.
The red card cost City any chance of a comeback. City started quite strong in the game knowing an early goal would have gave them real momentum but Bernardo Silva’s red card stopped any hope of a comeback in the first half, I suppose it’s just reflex when you’re on the line to throw any body part at the ball to stop it going in so you can’t really blame Bernardo Silva for that, Pep is probably more annoyed with last weeks result as that really killed Cities chances of progressing but he’s only got himself to blame for going gun-ho at the Bernabeu and not even scoring a goal. City didn’t play too badly tonight but they do lack that killer instinct which they’ve had the last few seasons where they can score at ease, this City side just doesn’t have that and that’s why they had no chance of going through tonight.
Vini has the last laugh against City. The funny thing is that Vinicius Junior didn’t even play that well tonight and could have easily scored 3 or 4 if he was more clinical but it didn’t matter as City had no defence for his pace in behind which caused problems yet again tonight like last week, in Mbappe’s absence Vini has stepped up over the last month or so and it’ll be interesting to see if his form continues now that Mbappe is back as that duo hasn’t struck fire like we thought it might yet, if Madrid do want to win the Champions League this season they’ll need both Mbappe and Vini to be on top form along with the rest of the team as Madrid are in the tough side of the draw with Bayern Munich and PSG.
It’s Bayern Munich next for Real Madrid in the Champions League. I mean Bayern still have to play the second leg against Atalanta tomorrow but you’d imagine they are safe with a 6-1 advantage despite probably having a 16 year old in goal tomorrow with an injury crisis in that position at the club. In the 2010s Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid was the European El Clasico with the last meeting between the two being decided by Joselu and Rudiger after a crazy match at the Bernabeu, it’s probably a 50/50 but I would probably give the edge to Real Madrid if they have a fit squad with the firepower they possess despite Kane and Olise being on top form so far this season. A lot can change from now until then in April but I’m definitely looking forward to that matchup in a few weeks.