Citizens in the final Champions League will play with Inter
Feeling of déjà vu
We have already seen the start of the game. And more than once. It is in this confrontation. Even a week ago it was about the same. Manchester City immediately fell upon Real Madrid, but only in Madrid did the Spaniards survive and score first, making the scenario atypical. It was hard to call it that in comparison to a year ago. But now the “citizens” have done what they hadn’t achieved before: they converted the initial pressure into goals and did not allow Real to fight again.
The level of dominance in the first half of the match looked incredible. With such an advantage, City did not play even in the most important matches in England. By the time of the goal, the hosts had scored eight shots on target, three of which were on goal, and Courtois had already played Real Madrid’s leading man in this episode. Again. But even his feats aren’t enough when the team doesn’t help.
In the first half, Real Madrid had less than 20% ball possession and their passing accuracy was just over 60%. While at City he exceeded 90. With intense pressure, Manchester covered the opponent and simply did not let him raise his head.
Personal revenge
Separate conclusions were drawn by the “citizens” about Vinicius, who has become the main threat in the current Real Madrid and in this confrontation. In Spain he managed to hold competitions, albeit rare, but effective. Here the episode with a score of 0:1 is indicative, when the Brazilian again threatened to rush on goal, but Walker overtook him with an incredible jerk and covered him. This episode is not to be underestimated. Forget about Vinicius – and Real Madrid would be back in the match again, as they know how to do out of the blue, clinging to individual episodes.
It was City’s job to prevent such incidents from happening. But such could be, for example, a long-range shot by Kroos when the ball hits the crossbar. This attempt was generally Madrid’s only one in the first half. And it could become a goal. It would be quite in the style of Madrid. But now luck was no longer in the hands of Madrid.
Not only Vinicius could not play football. But also Modric – it was evident how he made mistakes when passing under pressure from his own penalty area. And Camavinga made mistakes, unable to withstand the onslaught on his flank. Perhaps Real Madrid managed to reconnect Haaland, but it was not Erling who was angrier than the rest of the game after the Madrid game, but a completely different character. Which has largely made the result now.
After the match a week ago, the experts separately noted the very weak game of Bernardo Silva, who got lost on the field, and by the end he was clearly tired and made obvious mistakes. These setbacks translated into overdrive that allowed Silva to break the flank of Camavinga and Vinicius. When the Portuguese scored twice in the first half, there was no doubt how the match would end. City football looked too convincing and uncompromising. 13 shots per half against one, 72 percent of ball possession with nine out of ten accurate passes.
Shy attempts
The third and perhaps the last episode in which Real could theoretically return to the game took place at the start of the second half. Alaba’s powerful free-kick took Ederson out from under the crossbar. It was one of only three Real Madrid accurate goals in this match. But in the second half, at least in the first part, there were almost no dangerous moments. City have successfully neutralized any attempts by Real Madrid to rejoin contention.
Ancelotti had to apply the usual permutations. He removed Modric and Kroos, moved Alaba to the wing and Camavinga and Tchuameni joined Valverde in midfield. In reality, this is how Real Madrid see the midfield of the future, but they are not yet ready to turn the tide of matches in this form and be consistently effective. However, the transition from the award-winning combination of Modric and Kroos to the younger combinations will not be as painless as Real Madrid would like and plan. And the whole future of Madrid, which shines perestroika in the coming years, depends on his smoothness. It can go without trophies. Thus we could see in this match the end of a long glorious era. However, this is a completely different topic and the future will show its relevance.
Clear advantage
Statistically, the second half passed with a slight advantage of Real Madrid, who already had the ball 52% of the time, shot six shots. However, of City’s only three attempts, two were successful. The defeat with the score 4:0 only looks excessive from the outside. Game content also meant a higher score. Uefa he counted City’s 69 attacks against Real Madrid’s 27.
The last time Real Madrid lost this much in the Champions League was 14 years ago. In March 2009, Real beat Liverpool 4-0. For Josep Guardiola personally, this victory was the 100th in the Champions League. But he hasn’t reached Carlo Ancelotti yet. The Italian leads with 107 victories. Between him and Guardiola is Alex Ferguson, who has 102 victories. But Guardiola got there faster than them – in 160 games. Ancelotti has surpassed the 100-win mark in 180 games, while Ferguson has surpassed the 184 mark.
The Spaniard did not catch up with the Italian in another global indicator – the number of Champions League finals. For Guardiola it will be the fourth in his career, while Ancelotti has five, which is a record. And in four cases the Italian won the final. But Josep has two victories in three attempts. Both of his wins have been with Barcelona, the latest in 2011. With City, he came close to success as they reached the final in 2021, but then lost to Chelsea.
In the final, which will be played in Istanbul on 10 June, the clear favorites will be City, unbeaten in 23 matches (W19 D4) in all competitions. But it is curious that the next meeting between Manchester City and Inter will be the first official match in the history of these teams. And immediately – the final of the main tournament.
