And who now thought the “Sky Blues” would then first switch to administration mode, saw themselves deceived. Always driven by de Bruyne, they tried to score the second goal as soon as possible. And that should already succeed in the 11th minute. This time the Belgian crossed into the penalty area, Real defender David Alaba slipped the ball under the sole and Gabriel Jesus gave Real goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois no chance from six meters – and scored 2-0.
Sleepy Madrilenians
While the English started the game wide awake and highly motivated in the early stages, the Spaniards seemed restless, unfocused and at times even overwhelmed. Vinícius Júnior then had the first shot for the Madrilenians following 18 minutes, but the Brazilian’s attempt almost ended in seitan. A mirror image of Los Blancos’ performance up to that point.
With a little more vision from Mahrez, Manchester might have scored their third goal following just 27 minutes. But the 31-year-old completed the counterattack with an inaccurate shot from a tight angle to the side netting instead of using the better-placed de Bruyne. Two minutes later, following the next counterattack once morest the completely unsorted Spaniards, Phil Foden missed the next big opportunity.
Benzema – who else?
It only seemed a matter of time before Los Blancos were relieved of the Citizens would be completely worn down. But what would Real Madrid be without Karim Benzema? When nothing works anymore, the Frenchman suddenly turns it up – and how. First, Benzema placed a millimeter-precise cross on Alaba’s forehead, who did it Citygoal just missed. Then the attacker himself was on the spot and, following a cross from Ferland Mendy, scored a volley from 14 meters to make it 1-2 (33 ‘).
As unpredictable as the first half ended, this semi-final continued as extraordinary. As soon as the two teams were back on the field, Mahrez had the great opportunity to increase following a counterattack. But he only hit the post following 48 minutes. Foden rebounded from five meters and was completely undisturbed and might not get past Real defender Daniel Carvajal, who was on the goal line. Five minutes later, however, Foden did a much better job, scoring 3-1 following Fernandinho’s cross.
Silva with dream goal
But Real didn’t let themselves be thrown off course by their own defensive weaknesses and the furiously playing English. Vinícius Júnior scored almost in return, following an irresistible solo effort from the center line, the 2:3 (55th). But that wasn’t long enough. Bernardo Silva converted the top left corner of the goal with a fantastic long-range shot from 14 meters to make it 4:2 (74th) for the hosts.
It seemed that the preliminary decision had been made. But Real Madrid picked themselves up once more – and scored the 3: 4 goal. Benzema casually converted a hand penalty caused by Aymeric Laporte with a lob in the middle of the goal to finish (82nd) an extraordinary football game. It was the 14th goal of the 34-year-old in the running Champions-League-Saison.