Latest Sports Updates : Pep Guardiola subtracted Kevin De Bruyne and the Norwegian, his two finest penalty takers, and the midfielders were stopped from the spot.
Although Manchester City once again outperformed Real Madrid, their Champions League reign was cruelly ended on penalties in the quarterfinals. This time, though, they lacked the decisiveness and the hubris. After a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes and extra time, Madrid goalie Andriy Lunin foiled Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic, who were the perpetrators. The game went into a shootout.
After exerting every effort to defeat Madrid, City was unable to capitalize on their opportunities, and when they most needed Erling Haaland, they were unable to use him because Pep Guardiola had cut him after yet another lackluster performance in a crucial match. After that, Antonio Rudiger sunk the tenth penalty to finally put an end to dreams of a double-treble.
In a rematch of the first leg, Rodryro, City’s dark horse in this tournament, scored the first goal of the match, celebrating his fourth goal against Guardiola’s team. Nevertheless, City came back strong, as Haaland’s header struck the crossbar and Bernardo failed to score from the rebound.
After the break, they improved even more, boxing Madrid in, and their pressure eventually paid off when Kevin De Bruyne scored following a poor clearance attempt by Rudiger. Then, with ninety minutes remaining, the Belgian squandered a fantastic opportunity to end the match.
With the exception of Rudiger’s missed penalty kick, which left penalties as the only means of separating these two titans of the contemporary European game, the additional thirty minutes was also a City monologue. Remarkably, Ederson, Phil Foden, and Julian Alvarez each contributed right away, but Bernardo and Kovacic fell short when it counted most.