Real Madrid

All but beaten in its Champions League semifinal, Madrid scored once, then twice, then a third time to snatch a victory and add to its legend.

It is something that happens, something that happens to Real Madrid, and to whoever has the misfortune to be standing in its way. There can be no noise, no hope, no spark and no time, and yet Real Madrid can still conjure it from the air, from the sky, from something deep within. It did not have any great desire to exist in a dimension in which Manchester City was in the Champions League final and it was not. It had only found a little composure after Riyad Mahrez had scored, when the prospect of a place in the final against Liverpool at the end of May was so tantalizingly close. It is hard to tell whether it is something about the Bernabéu that does it, or whether it is the effect of feeling like you are living in a self-fulfilling prophecy, but this place has an unrivaled ability to unsettle even the greatest players, the smoothest teams. Manchester City was now living in Real Madrid’s world, and the ending in Real Madrid’s world is always the same. In the space of five minutes, with a break and a breather in between, Manchester City’s understanding of how things worked had been shattered. It happened to P.S.G., too, when Gianluigi Donnarumma stumbled on the ball and Neymar and Lionel Messi disappeared from view. Here, though, it was something else, something more akin to a Big Bang. Real Madrid did not particularly like the turn the universe was taking. This time, he raced off, sprinting to the edge of the field, careering as close to the stands as he could. With 89 minutes and 30 seconds played, Rodrygo reacted quickest to Karim Benzema’s knockdown and stabbed a shot past Éderson. He gobbled the ball from the back of the net, and sprinted straight back to the halfway line. But there comes a point when reality has to intrude, when the chaos has to give way to order.

The pregame tifo read, “Another magical night for the kings of Europe.” And so it was, with a late flurry and extra time penalty sending Real Madrid back to ...

He will be the first manager to coach in five different finals, and could be the first to win the competition four times. That took the game to extra time, and within four minutes, Benzema had put Madrid ahead from the penalty spot after being brought down by Rúben Dias—his 10th goal in the knockout stage this season making it 3–1 on the night, 6–5 on aggregate. It’s a clash of the 13-time winners and the six-time winners, and it will mark the first time two sides will have met in three different finals. City had played sensibly, stifling Madrid to the point it didn’t have a shot on target in the first 90 minutes (in which time it had nine). Riyad Mahrez had put City ahead on the night after 73 minutes, giving it a 5–3 aggregate lead. It sets up a repeat of the 1981 final, even down to the city (although in a different stadium) when Liverpool won, and a repeat of the final in Kyiv four years ago when Madrid won. It looked finished against Paris Saint-Germain and then scored three times in the final half hour of the last 16.

Real Madrid are through to yet another UEFA Champions League final after an incredible comeback against Manchester City.

Real Madrid 4-1 Juventus Real Madrid 4-1 Atletico Madrid Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus

Bad clock management, or an ongoing curse? The magic of the Bernabeu, or the resolve of a champion side? For City and Real, the match provided all.

Benzema, who scored from the spot with a Panenka penalty in the first-leg, resisted the temptation to try that again, instead shooting low to Ederson's left to make it 3-1 and put Real ahead for the first time in the tie. It is Real who will now face Liverpool -- the third time the two clubs will have met in the final. It is a testament to the resolve of this Real team that they managed to pull off one of the Champions League's most memorable comebacks, but City only have themselves to blame for their humiliation. But their belief had evaporated and Guardiola was at a loss to help them from the sidelines. City don't have the football heritage of either of those historic clubs and it showed. Real's fightback was typical of the great club that they are, but no team, at any level, should concede twice in stoppage time, especially when a place in the Champions League final is at stake.

Ahead of the 2022 Champions League final we look at the head-to-head record between Real Madrid and Liverpool. Karim Benzema is the top scorer in the ...

Real 3-1 Liverpool Real 3-1 Liverpool Liverpool 1-0 Real

The two sides combined for seven goals in their meeting at the Etihad last week, with Man City coming away with the slight advantage.

Once again, it was Vinícius who had the chance in front of goal, but the Brazilian missed the target. While City recorded four shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, Real continued to miss the target. The start lacked the frenetic energy and disorder of the first leg with neither side able to capitalize on a serious chance.

Carlo Ancelotti admitted there's been "something strange" about Real Madrid's progression to the Champions League final.

"I'm very happy to play another final, against a great team, Liverpool," Ancelotti said. The last few minutes were incredible." "There's no better feeling," midfielder Casemiro said. "The players never gave up. "Something strange has happened," Ancelotti, who is now the first manager to coach in five Champions League finals, said in his postmatch news conference. Nobody thought Real Madrid would play another final this year, and we're there."

The Spaniard, in his sixth season with the club, suffered yet another dose of European disaster as City was stunned by a late Real Madrid comeback in the decisive second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

It's normal, it's the semifinal, the players they feel the pressure, they want to do it. "It's not like you say in the last 10 minutes they attack and attack and you suffer. They put a lot of players in the box and they score two goals." We found our tempo, the players were comfortable on the pitch. "We were close but football is unpredictable," Guardiola said to BT Sport after the loss. "They scored goals in the last minutes.

Rodrygo makes an extraordinary intervention from the bench for Madrid while Phil Foden struggled to have any influence for Manchester City.

Rodrygo (for Kroos 68) Just incredible. 8 Exhausted by the end having run himself into the ground. 8 8 8