Ancelotti’s Real Madrid produced a late, late comeback to set up a repeat of the 2017/18 Champions League final
The second leg at the Bernabeu was a considerably more cautious and timid affair than the first, with Man City content to sit a bit deeper in order to safeguard their aggregate advantage.
In need of at least one goal, Real Madrid began the second half with a bit more offensive zeal, with Vinicius Jr posing a threat for the freshly crowned Spanish champions.
With 17 minutes remaining, Ilkay Gundogan found Bernardo Silva in acres of space in midfield before the Portuguese drove to the outside of the box and laid it off to Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian made no mistake, firing a thunderous first-time strike past Thibaut Courtois.
Substitute Jack Grealish had two late chances to increase his side’s advantage, but one was cleared off the line and the other was diverted narrowly wide.
Real Madrid had seemed defeated in their quarter-final match against Chelsea before battling hard to advance, and the 13-time European Cup champions would strike in the 90th minute with their first effort on target, Karim Benzema cutting the ball back.
Despite this, the Spanish side scored again just 88 seconds later, with Rodrygo getting his second of the game when he met Dani Carvajal’s ball from the right with a beautiful header to take the game into extra time.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side would be given a penalty three minutes into the extra session as Benzema was pulled down in the box by Ruben Dias. The Frenchman had blasted a panenka from the spot in the first leg, and this time he calmly sent Ederson the wrong way to put his team ahead on aggregate for the first time in almost 180 minutes.
“The game was close to finished and we managed to find the last energy we had. We played a good game against a strong rival. When we are able to equalise we had a psychological advantage in extra-time.
See More:
