Manchester City Reach The Champions League Final

In the semi-final rematch of the most important tournament of European football at club level, England’s Manchester City hosted Spain’s Real Madrid at Etihad Stadium, one of the teams that drew 1-1 in the first match.

The hosts started the match, which was directed by Polish referee Szymon Marciniak, with successive attacks and failed to capitalize on the scoring positions with Rodri, Jack Grealish, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland in the first minutes.

City increased their pressure and Bernardo Silva, who met the ball in the right cross of the penalty area with De Bruyne’s intermediate pass, put his team 1-0 ahead in the 23rd minute by finding the net from the right corner of the net with a placekick.

Toni Kroos, who met the ball outside the penalty area of Real Madrid’s penalty area, hit the ball hard from about 30 meters in the 35th minute and the ball bounced off the crossbar.

Ilkay Gundogan’s fierce shot from the penalty area of Manchester City was deflected by the defender to Bernardo Silva in front of the goal. The Portuguese scored his and his team’s second goal in the 37th minute with a neat header to set the score of the first half: 2-0.

Silva became the third player after Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski to score two goals for Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final.

Real Madrid started the second half more aggressively and David Alaba’s curling and hard free-kick in the 50th minute saw City goalkeeper Ederson make a smart save to keep the ball out for a corner.

In the 73rd minute, Haaland, who faced the goalkeeper in the penalty area with İlkay Gündoğan’s heel pass in the City team, was effective on the counterattack and his 73rd minute shot hit the crossbar and went out for a corner.

City stepped up their attacks and De Bruyne’s free-kick from the left wing saw Manuel Akanji’s header deflected off Real Madrid defender Eder Militao and into the net. The Brazilian’s own goal gave City a 3-0 lead against their rival.

Real Madrid, who took risks and attacked with many players in the last minutes, caught goal positions with Karim Benzema and Dani Ceballos, but goalkeeper Ederson was successful.

Facing the goalkeeper with Phil Foden’s intermediate pass, Argentine Julian Alvarez sent the ball into the net with a technical shot in the 90+1th minute and ensured his team left the field 4-0 victorious.

On the other hand, Italian Carlo Ancelotti, who coaches Real Madrid, surpassed Alex Ferguson to become the manager with the most appearances in the history of the tournament with 191 matches.

With 14 trophies, Manchester City eliminated Real Madrid, the most successful team in Champions League history, to reach the last two teams for the second time in the tournament after 2021. The England team will face the Italian team Inter on Saturday, June 10, in the final, which will be hosted by Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul for the second time.