The rivalry between Manchester City and real Madrid In the Champions League it has become one of the most intense duels of recent years, marking a series of epic qualifiers that have left their mark on the recent history of the tournament. And it is a classic that will be repeated this season too soon. Chance has been cruel to both teams and will cross the sixteenth -end of the Champions. He City It is not right, but it is no longer as bad as before and now everything can happen to two games. Without a doubt, it is an early final of two teams that can hardly be eliminated so early. They will play first in England on February 11 and the following week, on the 19th, Wednesday, at Bernabéor.
From the 2019-2020 season to the present, both teams have starred in clashes loaded with tension, emotion and unforgettable moments.
The first great clash of this series occurred in the round of 16 of the 2019-2020 season. The team led by Pep Guardiola gave a coup of authority eliminating the real Madrid with a global 4-2. In the first leg, played at Santiago Bernabéu, the English team achieved a decisive comeback after the initial goal of ISCOfinally imposing by 1-2 with so many of Gabriel Jesus and Kevin de Bruyne. On the return, held in the Etihad, the defensive errors of the white team facilitated the local victory 2-1, with another goal of Gabriel Jesusconfirming the superiority of Manchester City and his pass to the quarterfinals.
Two seasons later, in the semifinals of the 2021-2022, the story took a dramatic turn. He Manchester City first hit the first leg with a vibrant 4-3 in the Etihad, in a match where Of Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Phil foden and Bernardo Silva They shone with their goals. However, the real Madridwith his aura of resilience in the Champions, he starred in one of the most impressive comebacks in the history of the tournament in the Bernabéu. A double of Rodrygo In the last minutes he brought the Qualifier to the extension, where Karim Benzemafrom the penalty spot, sentenced the final 3-1 and sealed the pass to the final, which the whites would later win in Paris.
The rematch came in the next edition, in the semifinals of the 2022-2023, with a Manchester City intractable. After 1-1 of the first leg in the Bernabéu, the set of Guardiola offered an overwhelming exhibition in the return, winning 4-0 to the real Madrid In the etihad with two goals Bernardo Silvaan autogol of Éder Militão and a final shot of Julián Álvarez. That night, the domain of the English team was total, with a Kevin de Bruyne Imperial and a Erling Haaland That, although it did not mark, it generated constant chaos in the white defense. That victory led to City To the final, where European champions were consecrated for the first time in their history.
The most recent chapter of this rivalry took place in the quarterfinals of the 2023-2024, in a tie that was again marked by the epic and tension. He real Madridnow without Benzemabut with a team led by Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Jr. and Rodrygohe achieved an exciting draw 3-3 in the first leg in the Bernabéu, in a frantic duel where both teams demonstrated their offensive power. In the return, the Manchester City dominated much of the game, but the whole of Carlo Ancelotti He resisted solidly, forcing the penalty shootout after 1-1 at the regulatory time. In a dramatic definition, the real Madrid It was more accurate from eleven meters, with a Andriy Lunin Decisive in the goal, ensuring the pass to the semifinals and charging rematch of the elimination suffered a year earlier.