First of all, two minutes of silence for those who dared to miss the clash between Real Madrid and Manchester City. Without any doubt one of the finest games of the season thus far. No wonder why the Guinness Book of Records hailed UCL as the most significant sporting event globally. Every football lover enjoyed that match. I know how long a week feels right now. Next Wednesday feels like a vast eternity. This is the beauty of UCL. The excitement, the emotions are out of this world. Only a football fan apparently knows what I am saying.
The match started way before the kick-off. Pep Guardiola executed a mind game in the press conference earlier, claiming John Stones and Kyle Walker will not be included in the starting lineup as they haven’t trained for a long due to injury. Cancello was out due to two yellow cards. Mancity was out of option. So Madrid wanted to convert it into an advantage. They decided to make the best use of Vinicius Junior. Carlo allowed Vinicius to stay higher up the field and trackback compared to every other time. But Pep unveiled the lineup, which included Stones as a right-back. The concept was simple. His job was to halt Vinicius and sink deep. Riyad Mahrez, who was currently enjoying his form of life, was tasked to treat the right-wing all by himself by cutting inside.
Guess what? Pep’s strategy played out quite nicely early in the game. It took just a minute and thirty-two seconds for KBD to score a diving header following a wonderful cross by Riyad Mahrez, who foresaw the offensive threat from KBD. This made KBD the fastest to score in a UCL semifinal.
What a start from Mancity. Things couldn’t be sweeter than that for the roaring fans. Madrid was struggling with the intense press of City. Madrid was missing their destroyer Casemiro for sure. Before Madrid could come out from the trauma, they found themselves behind again, running under the referee’s watch within ten minutes. A cross from KBD, which David Alaba failed to control, was begging Jesus to meet the net. Guys, not God! The Gabriel Jesus, who is City’s second-choice striker while being the only striker. Jokes apart, his four goals against Watford earned him that.
Madrid was at a loss. Nothing seems to work for them. Madrid was desperate for a goal. They started to move forward more and more, which rendered them exposed again while twenty-five minutes of the game. Luckily Madrid escaped that catastrophe. But barely after three minutes, Madrid was in the same water once again. Madrid survived due to Phil Foden’s wasted chance. City was overplaying Madrid due to a dismal effort from the backline of Los Blancos.
Madrid started to react. In the twenty-ninth munities, Madrid was so near scoring from a short corner when Benzema set Alaba with a cross in the d-box. But Madrid kept on coming at City. Only after three minutes Madrid manage to make it 2-1 from a cross by Mendy converted by who else! King Karim Benzema. What an excellent finish from him. He didn’t even examine where the post was. Like the Madridistas say, “One chance, Bang.”
In the second half, hardly after a minute, Madrid was in hot water yet again. Madrid’s defense was vulnerable. A clumsy tackle from Militao offered up all the room for Mahrez. Courtois near post coverage cost Mahrez hitting the post, but fortunately, the ball found Foden in an open net. A clearance from Carvajal probably kept Madrid alive.
Once again, Madrid’s defense was their nemesis. A miss placed pass from Mendy was won by City’s skipper Fernandinho who seized the occasion to assist a goal for Phil Foden. And yet again, Madrid was two-goal down at Etihad.
Before City could finally escape euphoria, Vinicius annihilated their whole team all by himself, scoring a solo goal. Oh my God! What just transpired! What a boy! What a talent! What a way to score! What a night! What a match!
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A career-ending nutmeg for Fernandinho. Are you serious! I don’t know how to overcome what I just witnessed. It was madness.
Even Guardiola was bamboozled.
Madrid was itching for another goal. But this time, Madrid was absolutely very, very unfortunate to fall behind once again by a questionable gesture from the referee. He was poised to whistle, but he hesitated. The referee didn’t even show an advantage indication. Madrid players believed it was going to be a free kick. Bernardo Silva made the best possible use of these circumstances. It was more of a blunder by the referee. Even the match commentator suggested maybe the referee played a part in that. In the end, Madrid had to pay the price. Again for the third occasion, Madrid discovered themselves two-goal trailing City.
Madrid chose not to waste time protesting as there was nothing to get. They were focused entirely on scoring. It was end to end attack. But this time, it was Madrid who was creating problems for City. In the seventy-ninth minute, Madrid won a penalty thru a handball against Laporte. Madrid needed that goal. They had to convert it anyhow. All the city fans were yelling. Who else, Benzema stepped up. But it wasn’t easy for him at all, only after missing two penalties in the previous game. Everybody was terrified. Players, Coaches, Supporters. Carvajal didn’t even dare to glance at the penalty shoot-out. Imagine the strain on Benzema. City fans were even harassing him with green leasers. Karim Benzema netted an audacious Panenka to hush the city supporters. Can you believe what he just executed on a stage like this! In a circumstance like this! Unbelievable! Out of this world.
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This goal crowned him the leading scorer in this tryout of UCL.
Benzema struck 40 goals in a season first time in his career for Real Madrid. He also topped Messi for most UCL semifinal goals. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (13) has netted more goals in the semifinals of the Champions League than Karim Benzema.
His nine goals in the last four matches allowed him to shatter Leonel Messi’s record of scoring more knockout goals in a single season of UCL. He needs just one more goal to become the all-time leading scorer in UCL knockout phase alongside Ronaldo.
He is also on the verge of hitting another record as thing stands:
⚽️1️⃣7️⃣Cristiano Ronaldo (2013/14)
⚽️1️⃣6️⃣Cristiano Ronaldo (2015/16)
⚽️1️⃣5️⃣Cristiano Ronaldo (2017/18)
⚽️1️⃣5️⃣Robert Lewandowski (2019/20)
⚽️1️⃣4️⃣Lionel Messi (2011/12)
⚽️1️⃣4️⃣Karim Benzema (2021/22)
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The match finished 4-3. It was a thriller, the most fantastic game of the season, even without a doubt. I can’t wait for the second leg at Bernabeu.