Pep Guardiola still not explained how his team will only go to the Santiago Bernabéu with a one-goal lead after the game bath they gave Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. The Catalan coach saw how he had the whites on the canvas after managing to go 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes. His pupils forgave clear occasions that made the maxim of football fulfill to the nth degree: whoever forgives pays for it and if it is against Madrid, the punishment is double.
Because Carlo Ancelotti’s boys they managed to get that spiritin this edition of Champions. They showed it against PSG in the round of 16 with an express comeback when they were two goals down in the tie with half an hour to go. They repeated it against Chelsea after wasting a two-goal lead and knowing how to lick their wounds to win in extra time. Now against City they brought out the best of themselves in a first leg that was an ode to football.
Seven goals in a Champions League semi-final is not a trivial matter. It was a power to power match between two teams that defend two clearly antagonistic styles. While City makes possession and combination play its flag, Madrid lives off the talent of its stars and also a style of play where effectiveness on goal is beyond logic.
The Whites managed to recover from each blow from City, responding with another goal and another goal until reaching the final 4-3 after a Panenka-style goal from Karim Benzema that snatched the Champions League top scorer from Robert Lewandowski. Guardiola lived in his own meats and see how he then gets up again and again until he leaves his rival KO
The second leg can be seen from the most optimistic perspective for the white fan. There are many who defend that the magic of the Bernabéu and the great nights will appear. Madrid, despite this factor, must play a little more against a City that left to bed with the feeling of leaving alive a rival who never gives up. Does anyone doubt that if this game had been played by Barça, PSG or Juventus it would have ended with such a tight result? Madrid survives what they throw at it once again.