The war in the stands and on the pitch - the result and consequence of numerous duels between Manchester City and Real Madrid in the Champions League in recent seasons, was further fueled by the selection for the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world last season.
City Rodri narrowly defeated Real's at the end of October Vinisjus Juniora, and the "merenges" boycotted the award ceremony in protest.
The continuation of that "duel" was seen two nights ago, when City fans held up a huge banner showing Rodri kissing the Ballon d'Or trophy, with a message to Vinicius not to cry, all through the lyrics of the song by the pop group "Oasis" - "Stop crying your heart out".
The Brazilian said after the match that the banner gave him additional motivation to contribute to Real's big victory - 3:2, so the team Carlo Ancelotti on track to eliminate a major rival from the most elite competition for the second season in a row.
- I saw the banner. Whenever the opposing fans do something like that, it gives me more strength to play great and that's what I did here - said Vinicius.
- They know our history, everything we do in this competition. This is our fifth time coming here, it's always very cold, but this time we won and we have to keep going.
Vinicius turned things around with two assists in the final and extended the black streak. Pep Guardiola, the City coach, who has already suffered his 38th defeat in 12 games this season, equaling his personal record of defeats set in the (entire) 2019/2020 season.
300
Real Madrid has won the Champions League - significantly more than any other team. It took the Royal Club 300 games to reach 498 wins. Bayern Munich are next with 241 wins, Barcelona with 209, Manchester United with 161...
Real is the first club to have managed to defeat all of Pep's teams on away turf - Barca 2-1, and Bayern Munich 4-0.
- A great victory for confidence ahead of the second leg on our field. It's true that we lacked a bit of balance, but the players' commitment was incredible and they managed to show their skill, class, and mastery. We created numerous chances, and we succeeded even though the situation was difficult. The four in the back line had never played together before, not even in training - said coach Carlo Ancelotti.
The “Royal Club” only had one real goalkeeper in the team (City had five) but Real defended better! Ancelotti's players shot 20 times at the home goal, more than anyone had ever shot against Guardiola's team at the “Etihad”.
- We are all to blame, especially me. The team lacks the stability that was present in previous seasons - believes Guardiola.
He also paid tribute to the visiting team.
- Real had an unprecedented number of chances on our field and no other team could do that against us. This is the season in which Real was better. We had a good result and then we let it go. But, Real is not normal, not normal at all.
Guardiola was also defeated by Real Madrid in regular 90 minutes for the first time, having lost once in extra time and penalties. City have won four of their previous meetings in regular 90 minutes under Pep.
Bonus video:
