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Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Manchester City on Wednesday was not about inspiring and pulsating soccer. Madrid scored its only goal on a deflection off a defender’s leg. City did not manage a single shot on target.
But style points were not the goal; the result was the only thing that mattered to Real Madrid, and its win set the stage for another city derby in the Champions League final, to be played later this month in Milan.
For the second time in three years, Real Madrid will take on Atlético Madrid, its city and Spanish league rival, in the final of Europe’s biggest club competition. Two years ago, Real Madrid turned around a tense game in Lisbon to beat Atlético in extra time and win a record 10th title.
After a scoreless draw in Manchester in the first leg, Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid’s new coach and former star, had promised that he would field an offense-minded side, lifted by the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed the first leg with an injury.
Madrid was true to Zidane’s word, taking charge of the game from the start while City defended deep. Even though Madrid was missing the injured Karim Benzema, it rapidly became clear that the team had enough firepower to challenge the City defense, which suffered an early blow when its injury-prone captain, Vincent Kompany, limped off after 10 minutes.
Twenty minutes in, Real Madrid was rewarded for its constant pressure — even if that reward still required an element of luck. Dani Carvajal ran forward unchallenged on the right side before sliding the ball ahead to Gareth Bale at the near post. Bale, who has recently been at his best for Madrid in Ronaldo’s absence, hit a powerful shot from a tight angle.
While the shot might have been parried under normal circumstances, the ball looped over goalkeeper Joe Hart after glancing off the outstretched leg of City midfielder Fernando. (The goal was officially attributed to the unfortunate Fernando rather than Bale.)
Even though Madrid’s goal meant City needed to push forward in search of an equalizer, City struggled to find a way to raise the tempo and started to regain some control of the midfield only late in the second half. City’s sole chance of the first half came when Kevin De Bruyne fed a ball on the left to Fernandinho, whose low shot skidded past the post of Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
In the quarterfinals, Ronaldo had almost single-handedly eliminated Wolfsburg by scoring a hat trick in the return leg in Madrid that overturned an unexpected 2-0 defeat in the first leg.
This time, Ronaldo did not put his name on the score sheet, but he made his presence felt, particularly in the air. After 10 minutes, Ronaldo easily outjumped Nicolás Otamendi to send a powerful header over Hart’s goal. Halfway through the second half, Ronaldo again found enough free space to strike another strong header, but he sent it straight at Hart.
And in one of the most bizarre moments of the game, Ronaldo rose for a high cross and then caught the ball with both hands before pushing it into the net. Only the fact that he had been offside spared him a yellow card for the deliberate (and odd) handball.
With Madrid’s fans preparing to celebrate the final whistle, City nearly got a last-minute away goal, which would have qualified it for the final, with a flash of brilliance from Sergio Agüero, who had an otherwise quiet evening. From well outside the penalty box, Agüero hit a dipping shot that flew just above the goal.
After the game, Ronaldo said “we created chances” but lamented his team’s inability to finish off City earlier.
“In this type of game,” Ronaldo said, “you have to kill the game.”
Zidane acknowledged that Madrid had to suffer until the final seconds, but he also praised the team’s overall performance.
Having taken over halfway through the season without any previous top-flight coaching experience, Zidane recognized that reaching the Champions League final was already an important milestone.
“I’m happy with what is happening to me,” he said.
As for the final against Atlético, Zidane said, “There is no favorite; it’s a 50-50.”
Wednesday’s result brought to a disappointing close Manuel Pelligrini’s managerial career at City. Pellegrini, a former Madrid coach, is making way for Pep Guardiola, who will take charge after enduring his own Champions League semifinal heartache on Tuesday, when his Bayern Munich team beat Atlético, 2-1, but was eliminated on the away-goals rule, having lost by 1-0 in the first leg.
Pellegrini told reporters that City had suffered because of the absence of injured players like David Silva but that the team had managed to shut down Madrid to the point that, he argued, neither team deserved to win before a penalty shootout.
“Either of the two would have deserved to go through,” he said.
Whatever Pellegrini’s views, nobody was going to spoil the party for the Madrid fans, who gave a long round of applause to their players after the final whistle before launching into their traditional “Así, así, así gana el Madrid!” (“Thus, thus, thus wins Madrid!”)
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