Man City tried to out-Real Madrid Los Blancos but Champions League holders do what they always do
CBSN
Behind a makeshift defense, Los Blancos went to the Etihad, trailed late and still came away with the victory
MANCHESTER -- They really thought they could Real Madrid mighty Real Madrid? Manchester City showed all the qualities that have been the blueprint of the European champions: fly on the seat of your pants, play your best football in patches, gamble that your luck will hold for the rest, score your best chances, rely on the other team missing theirs in increasingly baffling fashion. You might not like it, but this has been what elite Champions League performance has looked like for the last nine years.
That is what City delivered -- not good football, not in the slightest, but the Champions League meta. The outcome? They got Real Madrided.
With the second leg to come in the Santiago Bernabeu next Wednesday, Madrid look well placed to secure aggregate victory over City for the fourth time in the six knockout meetings between these two teams over the last nine years. Those matches have provided all sorts of implausible breaks, more in the holder's favor than not. Think Rodrygo's double at the death, the 33 shots resulting in one goal last season. The ball never seems to break City's way against Madrid.
