Real Madrid secured a stunning Champions League semi-final comeback victory over Manchester City on Wednesday that will go down as one of the competition’s greatest ever matches.
Rodrygo Goes netted twice in the final minute of the match for the Spanish giants as Pep Guardiola’s side capitulated in the closing stages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Karim Benzema’s penalty in extra-time sealed the progress for the Spanish giants after City had led 5-3 on aggregate going into the final minute of regulation time.
It was an encounter that left Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti – so often calm, cool and collected – clearly emotional on the sidelines as his side continued their remarkable run in the competition. Having defeated Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea earlier in the knockout stages, his team have had to reach the final with arguably the toughest possible path.
Over the weekend, Real Madrid won their 35th La Liga title and the celebrations went long into the evening in the Spanish capital as the players and management of Los Blancos savoured the triumph with their fanbase before attentions immediately turned to this game and their pursuit of a fifth Champions League crown in nine seasons.
They have won two of the past three titles in La Liga and are now aiming to win their fifth Champions League title since 2014 – a remarkable run – and their 14 th title in the competition’s history. Madrid have, by a distance, been the most successful team on the European stage in the past decade.
Yet back in 2019, City boss Guardiola – who of course is a playing and coaching legend at Madrid’s El Clasico rivals Barcelona – did not mention Los Blancos when naming his best sides of the past decade. The Catalan chose three European teams as being the best on the continent, but overlooked the side from the Spanish capital – who had won four Champions League titles in the previous five years at the time.
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When quizzed on the best sides in Europe at that time, Guardiola responded: "I've said it many times: who are the best teams of the last decade? Juventus, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. These are the three best teams in Europe. Why? Because every season they win the league, every season they win the cups. Every season they are there challenging. Because they are the best."
Those comments have not been forgotten by the Madrid fanbase with the club going on to win two titles in the three seasons since and are now back in the Champions League final, having fallen in the last four of the competition last season.
