As always the UEFA Champions league gave us fireworks as Manchester City clashed with Real Madrid.
We might not have had fans in the stadium but the match was poised to be a thriller as the two giants met. It’s also worth mentioning that the match did deliver and it was what fans really wanted to see.
It was a game of tactics featuring Pep Guardiola vs French Superstar Coach Zinedine Zidane. The two coaches are known for their tactics to win matches but Zidane is much more experienced at winning the Champions League. However, this didn’t help his chances as Pep who failed to win the Premier League had something to prove.
It’s was clear from the start that Manchester City wanted to win the match and knock out Real Madrid. Walker was sprinting from one end and Kevin De Bruyne took charge of the Midfield. Sergio Ramos could only watch from the sidelines… Gotta say he was nearly dressed too, pity it wasn’t a fashion show.
Man City despite their huffing and puffing could not find the back of the net. Sterling as always was on fire but it took a mistake from Raphaël Xavier Varane for the Man City man to score. It was an early goal and this just fueled the match.
At this point all bets were off, it was not a clear cut game to say Real Madrid has an experienced coach so they were going to proceed to the next round. You would have bet on any team to take it home.
Raheem Sterling’s goal 9 mins in the match saw Real Madrid transform their play and were attacking more with Luka Modrić in the Centre of things. This saw Real Madrid scoring an equalizer at 28 minutes through Karim Benzema.
Benzema headed home an equalizer that caught the Man City defenders napping. It was a real work of art from Benzema but that didn’t stop Man City from pressing.
The second half came with more tactics and skill. It was in the 68th minute that Man City managed to score another goal through Gabriel Jesus. But it was a back header from the French defender Varane that Gabriel Jesus pounced on scoring in a near-impossible angle.
This means that both goals from Manchester City were mistakes by the World Cup-winning french defender Verane. Ramos could not help but look on with disappointment as his team failed to score another goal.
Will Real Madrid ever recover from this loss seeing that it was a knockout stage of the game. They managed to win La Liga despite a horrible start to the season so maybe Zinedine Zidane will see this as a building stage for his boys. The big question however is, will Eden Hazard stay in Spain or he will move back to the English Premier League?
Clearly Man City were too strong for Real Madrid!
