Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti survived a thrilling European night at the Bernabeu as his team beat Manchester City 3-1 (6-5 on aggregate) to book the Champions League final with Liverpool.
The Los Blancos They’ve played entertaining knockout matches this season – knocking out PSG first in the knockout stage on a thrilling night at the Bernabeu, before doing so at a higher level against Chelsea.
Riyad Mahrez’s goal 20 minutes from the end of the match put Pep Guardiola’s side in charge, but two late goals within two minutes of Rodrygo pushed the match into extra time, with Karim Benzema scoring from the penalty spot to send his team to Paris.
Despite having a home crowd behind them, Real Madrid failed to alarm City over a small issue of the lack of fireworks in the first leg when the two teams met at the Etihad Stadium.
The hosts were 4-3 behind in the Manchester match and were weak in the first half, as they failed to score even one shot on goal.
Benzema and Vinicius Jr. had half the chances to open the scoring but failed to upset Ederson on goal, the latter crossing the crossbar when he slotted in.
Instead, it was City who came close to scoring in the opening 45 minutes, and Thibaut Courtois called up four occasions.
First, the Belgian made a brilliant save to deny Bernado Silva in the 20th minute after the Portuguese put in a superb pass.
Phil Foden also tested Courtois with a long-range shot, but the Belgian saved it easily.
The second half began with Real Madrid creating the first opportunity directly from the beginning of the second half, but Vinicius Junior missed the opportunity to give his team the lead, with his efforts that were made on a large scale.
Pep Guardiola had to make a change in the 70th minute, as returning player Kyle Walker was injured and replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko.
A few minutes later, Kevin de Bruyne was replaced by Ilkay Gundogan, and the German had an immediate impact.
The midfielder started playing in the middle of the field, before feeding Bernado Silva, who sprinted his way into the penalty area before well-passing Mahrez for a superb shot into the net.
City came close to scoring the second goal in the 87th minute when Jack Grealish walked solo and beat Courtois at the goal, but was eliminated from the goal line by Ferland Mendy.
The Englishman got another chance a minute later, but this time Courtois made the weakest touches to deny him.
And City looked comfortably headed for Paris, until Rodrygo, who made the 68th minute, hit Karim Benzema’s ball.
The 21-year-old then came home two minutes later to give Real Madrid the lead on the night and tied 5-5 on aggregate, forcing him to extra time.
After five minutes of extra time, Benzema fell into the penalty area, where the referee awarded a penalty, and the Frenchman calmly hit it to give Real Madrid the lead in the equaliser.
Although both teams had clear chances to add to their tally, Benzema’s goal proved the winner and he will now face the final in Paris.
