Extraordinary! Manchester City appeared mighty by winning a 4-0 victory over Real Madrid in the second leg of the 2023/2023 Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday. This result brought the British team back to the final. Manchester City continues to display their positive trend. After holding Madrid to a 1-1 draw in the first leg, they went on a rampage in the second and won 5-1 on aggregate to prepare to face Inter Milan in next month’s final.
Bernardo Silva performed brilliantly with two goals in the 23rd and 37th minutes. Meanwhile, the other two goals came from an own goal by Eder Militao in the 76th minute and a goal from Julian Alvarez in the 90+1 minute.
Carrying out the mission of having to win, Pep Guardiola’s team played attacking from the start. The attacking line was filled with Erling Haaland who was installed as the sole striker supported by midfielders who were occupied by Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish in the second line. This composition was successful in creating many opportunities that troubled Madrid’s defense.
Rodri opened City’s first chance in the eighth minute, but his shot was wide of the right side of the net. City’s next two opportunities through Haaland’s header in the 13th and 21st minutes were thwarted by Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Another chance came from De Bruyne’s free-kick in the 19th minute but still failed to find the target.
City hosts finally opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Taking advantage of De Bruyne’s through ball, Bernardo Silva successfully broke into the Madrid goal with a left-footed shot from inside the penalty box.
Madrid tried to respond with Toni Kroos’ strike in the 35th minute, but the Madrid midfielder’s shot just hit the bar. Two minutes later City doubled their lead through Silva’s second goal. Taking advantage of the ball rebounded by Ilkay Gundogan’s shot, Silva greeted it with a header that nestled into the left side of the Madrid goal.
Madrid tried to catch up in the second half but Madrid’s front three relying on Vinicius Jr. , Karim Benzema and Rodrygo were not able to do much. The tight guard from Kyle Walker and his friends managed to limit their movements.
On the other hand City’s players continued to play attacking. Haaland got his third chance in the 74th minute, but Courtois again managed to prevent the Norwegian striker from scoring. The Citizens then got their third goal in the 76th minute. Starting from De Bruyne’s free kick, Eder, who mistakenly anticipated the ball, instead turned the ball into his own net.
The City party ended with a goal by Julian Alvarez in injury time. Taking advantage of a counter-attack scheme, the player from Aegentina continued Phil Foden’s pass and broke into the Madrid goal with his right foot in the 90+1 minute. Coach Guardiola said he was satisfied with the appearance of his team. “The players performed extraordinary, especially Bernardo Silva. Last season we were not lucky. But today we were ready to fight from the first minute and showed how special we are,” said Guardiola in an interview with BT Sport.
This fantastic result strengthens City’s optimism to perform optimally against Inter Milan in the final match later and opens up the opportunity to win the treble winners. They are now preparing to celebrate winning the league this weekend and will face Manchester United in the FA Cup at the start of next month. Who do you pick as the winner in the final? Will it be Inter Milan or Manchester City? Will it be the England’s or Italy’s team? It will be interesting to see the outcome of this match in a few weeks.
ASL
