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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
/
Real Madrid defeats Manchester City in penalty shootout to reach
Champions League semifinals
By George Ramsay, CNN
Updated:
7:52 AM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
will face Bayern Munich in the semifinals after defeating in a tense
penalty shootout on Wednesday.
Defender Antonio Rüdiger struck the decisive blow for Real Madrid,
burying his penalty into the bottom-left corner before his teammates
piled on top of him in celebration.
That saw a thrilling tie featuring eight goals across the two games
draw to a close as the 14-time European champion triumphed 4-3 on
penalties.
“Madrid always deliver, that’s part of football,” Los Blancos
midfielder Federico Valverde. “The opposition came into the game
stronger, playing better football than us and were favorites.
“But we are Madrid and we dug in, defended well and fought hard.
That’s how we won the game.”
After a thrilling first leg between the two teams ended 3-3 in Madrid,
City was fancied to advance in what transpired to be a night of high
drama at the Etihad Stadium.
Real gained the upper hand in the tie following Rodyrgo’s well-worked
goal in the 12th minute.
A superb piece of control from Jude Bellingham set up the prelude to
the goal, allowing Valverde and Vinícius Jr. to combine and send in a
cross to Rodrygo, who scored with his second attempt after his first
shot was parried back to his feet by City goalkeeper Ederson.
City pushed for an equalizer, and minutes later Erling Haaland struck
the bar with a header before Kevin De Bruyne and Jack Grealish also
went close.
With Real happy to sit deep and defend, the home side continued to
press in the second half and was rewarded when De Bruyne slammed a shot
into the top of the net after Jérémy Doku’s probing cross into the
box.
De Bruyne had further chances to win the game for Man City but Real’s
rear guard stood firm and the game remained 1-1, 4-4 on aggregate,
after extra-time.
In the penalty shootout, Luka Modrić’s first attempt was saved by
Ederson but City’s advantage disappeared when Bernardo Silva struck
his effort straight at a static Andriy Lunin.
The Real goalkeeper then saved Mateo Kovačić’s penalty to swing the
contest in his side’s favor. Lucas Vázquez, Phil Foden, Nacho, and
Ederson all scored with their attempts before Rüdiger stepped up and
sent Real into the semifinals.
“We showed the attitude and commitment demanded by this jersey,”
manager Carlo Ancelotti said after the game.
“This is a very special competition for us and we always deliver
something that people are not expecting us to produce. Everyone was
writing us off but we’re still here.”
For City, the chances of once again winning a treble – the Champions
League, Premier League and FA Cup – have gone, making this
weekend’s FA Cup semifinal against Chelsea even more important.
“Congratulations to Real Madrid - they defended so deep with
incredible solidarity,” City manager Pep Guardiola. “We did
everything. I don’t have any regrets about what we have done.
“Always as managers we try to create more and concede less in every
single game because that helps to win. We did everything, defensively
and offensively … We played exceptionally in all departments.
Unfortunately, we could not win. It is what it is.”
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