Manchester City and Real Madrid locked horns once again in the Champions League semi final, with City blowing them away, just like Wayne Rooney predicted. They will meet Inter Milan in the final, after they knocked out their neighbours AC Milan last night with an aggregate score of 3-0.
The last time City and Madrid met in the semi finals was last season, Man City won 4-3 in the first leg after a lot of wasted chances. In the second leg, City was leading 1-0, until the 90th minute, when Madrid pulled an unbelievable comeback, scoring three goals in 5 minutes. That might be Pep Guardiola's biggest heartbreak, and we know he came more prepared this season.
Man City got busy in the summer, and signed one of the best strikers in the world at the moment, Erling Braut Haaland. They've torn through the Premier League as usual, snatching the title from my club after slapping us across two legs. They went into this fixture with spectacular form, unbeaten in their last 22 matches, and 15 in a row at the Etihad in all competitions, having not lost a single Champions League match at home since 2018. Madrid also came with more motivation, since Barcelona already has the La liga title, they looked to see themselves win the Champions league the 15th time, resting key players against Getafe at the weekend.
This season, following two moments of individual brilliance in the first leg from Vinicius Jr and Kevin De Bruyne, they drew 1-1 at the Bernabeu.
The second leg last night at the Etihad was Manchester City's revenge match. They tore Madrid apart, winning 4-0 to secure a 5-1 aggregate win and a place in the final against Inter Milan on June 10th in Istanbul.
Bernardo Silva scored twice in the first half to put City in front, with a left footed finish, and a well placed header. They completely dominated the first half, and saves by Thibaut Courtois kept City from disappearing out of sight.
Madrid threatened them a bit at the opening of the second half, but Manuel Akanji’s header, which also came off Eder Militao before going in the net, and a late goal from Julián Álvarez ensured there was nothing like a comeback tonight.
The players did their jobs well and Madrid's threats were shut off. We can agree that Vinicius Jr was pocketed by Kyle Walker.
Silva speaking after the game, "It's a beautiful night for us. We knew it was going to be tough. But to beat this Madrid team 4-0 at home, it was wonderful. A wonderful feeling to be in the final again, and hopefully this time we can try and win it."
"My performance in the first game in Madrid wasn't the one I wanted. I wanted to try and compensate for that because I didn't feel very good at all after the first game. And here today, I had to do better for my teammates and the fans."
Man of the match - Bernardo Silva
Well deserved 👍🏽⚽
This is Pep Guardiola's 100th win in the UEFA champions league, being the fastest manager to reach this milestone having done it in 160 games.
This is Manchester City's second ever Champions League final, having lost to Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea in 2021. They will hope to lift their first European Cup next month after the upsets over the years and this might just be it.
Pep Guardiola's team is now two games away from winning the treble. Inter Milan in the UCL final, and Manchester United in the FA cup final. Right now, the Premier League is as good as theirs.
My prediction?
Yeah, they're winning the treble.
Thanks for reading.