The most trophy-laden and biggest club eliminated the champion - Real Madrid made a slight surprise in the quarter-final derby of the Champions League with a lucky and skillful triumph against Manchester City, paving the way to the semi-finals, to the final at Wembley, to the 15th European star.
Carlo Ancelotti's team is now the main favorite to win the elite club competition, at least in the competition of the next rival, Bayern, and Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia, they are given the best chances. Bookmakers offer odds of 2,4 on the final celebration of the "royal club", followed by the Parisians (3,6), then the Bavarians (3,7), while at the bottom of the list are the "millionaires" from Dortmund (nine).
On April 30, Real hosts Bayern in the first leg of the semi-finals, a day later on May 1, Borussia welcomes Paris Saint-Germain. The second leg is a week later.
The 64-year-old coach is once again the hero of Madrid, the club to which he has already brought two Champions League titles, with a third, at least at the local, Real level, he would equal Zinedine Zidane (three titles as a coach - earning), but on a wider, global level, he would further move borders, because with four titles (he won two with Milan) he has already become a record holder.
After all, Ancelotti eliminated Pep Guardiola and the best version of Manchester City twice in the last three years, to which everyone had to go before the finals all three times since he returned to the Madrid bench in 2021 (City was better last year).
At the cost of the fact that the method of victory was not exactly Real's, defending "in the trenches" for the most part of the rematch in Manchester, severely lagging behind the rival in every statistical parameter (only 33 percent of possession, eight shots against 34 opponents, one corner compared to City's 18), Ancelotti found a way to beat the better. He did it with a combination of the attacking skills of the biggest stars in the first half, and fantastic defensive performances in the biggest part of the match.
Penalties are often a lottery, Real had a lot of luck.
- In any other sport, we would have won - said Guardiola after the match.
Ancelotti, on the other hand, defended Real's style of play throughout the entire rematch at the Etihad.
- This kind of game was the only way for us to move on - said the Italian.
- We started well, took the lead, and then we started to struggle, to save ourselves. We were standing too low, and City had more and more control. Fortunately, we defended very well. When the penalty was taken, we were convinced that we would go through, the players told me that they would win.
Real's bunker was also defended by the former world football star, Thierry Henry.
- There is something called defense. You can control the game if you defend well enough. People will say that Manchester City were a much better team, but defending is part of the game.
Finally, Ancelotti revealed what Pep Guardiola told him after the match.
"He congratulated me on passing and wished us luck. He was a gentleman as always, just as this club is a gentleman."
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