WWhat a football spectacle, what a celebration – or, as the Spanish sports newspaper La Marca wrote immediately after the final whistle: “Real Madrid never dies.” At least not in the superb 3-3 draw against Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, who were likely denied their dream final by that duel. On Tuesday night, City led twice, Real Madrid only once, and the game ended in a draw.
“I can imagine the crowd would have had a good time if it had been a six-goal game,” City manager Pep Guardiola joked afterward. “We know that the game against Madrid in this stadium will never end.”
Manchester took the lead in the second minute through Bernard Silva. But it only lasted ten minutes. After a double strike in the 12th and 14th minutes with an own goal from Ruben Dias and a goal from Rodrigo, the Whites were now ahead. Then again Phil Foden (66th) turned the game in City’s favor with a shot into the corner and former RB Leipzig pro Joskos Guardiol (71st). Fede Valverde (ranked 79th) finally set the final score.
“I’m happy,” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said after the match. “We fought and if we do the same in the second leg we can progress.” Last season both teams met in the semi-finals. Almost a year ago, Real Madrid also fought for a draw (1-1) in the first match – but then lost 4-0 in Manchester.
Kroos: “Then we have a chance in the second leg”
For this reason, the Real Madrid international also made it clear after the final whistle: “We have to do much better than last year,” Toni Kroos warned on DAZN. “We went there with a draw, and then we had virtually no chance.” After a wild, breathless 3-3 draw in the first leg of the quarter-finals, we will also have to show our home face away from home next Wednesday.
“We know City are a level stronger at home,” Kroos said. “We have to show up there with the same personality that we show up in our own stadium, then we’ll have a chance.”
The national player was at least a little upset about the better result. “They score two goals that even City don’t manage to score every day,” he said, referring to goals from Phil Foden and Josko Guardiola, each of which flew beautifully into the corner of the net: “Of course it hurts. I feel like I’m not that happy.”
Source: Frantfurter Allgemeine
I am a sports journalist with over 10 years of experience covering news, events and stories from around the world. I have written for several online news outlets and have also been published in print magazines. I am currently working as an author at the World Herald News, where I cover primarily sports-related stories.
