Manchester City’s hold on the Champions League was wrestled away by Real Madrid as they were beaten on penalties in a dramatic quarter-final at Etihad Stadium.
The holders recovered from going behind to Rodrygo’s early strike to lay siege to Real’s goal, finally equalising 14 minutes from the end of normal time when Kevin de Bruyne pounced on Antonio Rudiger’s clearance.
It was the least City deserved for their almost total domination but a lack of the finishing touch cost them as Real, despite being exhausted and mounting a desperate rearguard action, held out for spot-kicks.
City looked on course to meet Bayern Munich in the semi-final when Luka Modric missed Real’s first penalty but Bernardo Silva’s dreadful effort and another from substitute Mateo Kovacic were saved by keeper Andriy Lunin, leaving former Chelsea defender Rudiger to step up and clinch victory for the great Champions League specialists.
It ended City’s bid for another Treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup – and they must now recover from this gruelling encounter to defend the latter in the semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.
City will wonder for a long time how they failed to win this game despite exerting complete superiority over their Spanish opponents apart from the early stages when the La Liga leaders struck through Rodrygo.
The answer is simple – Pep Guardiola’s side piled up the opportunities but could not take them, letting Real off the hook.
City had 33 shots to Real’s eight, 18 corners to one but they just could not put Carlo Ancelotti’s men away.
