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Mark Ogden, Senior Author, ESPN FC
MADRID — Manchester Metropolis prevented a repeat of their Actual Madrid nightmare, however they cannot dream about successful the Champions League simply but.
The concern and respect displayed by each side in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw on the Santiago Bernabeu served a function, however the aspect which cuts unfastened and goes for broke at subsequent week’s return leg on the Etihad will make it to the ultimate in Istanbul on June 10.
When a crew emerges unbeaten from the away fixture of a two-legged tie, they’ve the precise to contemplate themselves as favourites for the house sport. Metropolis will count on to get the end result they should attain their second closing of the competitors when Actual go to Manchester subsequent week.
However for that to occur, Pep Guardiola’s aspect should look to dominate, intimidate and overcome a aspect that’s arguably probably the most completed in world soccer in terms of holding its nerve and getting a end result.
“They [Real] are so demanding, with the expertise and high quality,” Guardiola stated after Tuesday’s end result. “Whenever you play this type of sport it is sort of a play-off, so hopefully we will study, defend higher and assault higher.”
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Actual got here again from the lifeless in final season’s semifinal second-leg match with a pair of ninetieth minute targets which worn out Metropolis’s two-goal benefit, with Karim Benzema successful the sport in extra-time. And on this season’s Spherical of 16, Carlo Ancelotti’s gamers had been down two targets after simply 14 minutes of the primary leg at Liverpool — solely to win 5-2 on the evening. No one comes again from that sort of place at Anfield — Barcelona‘s 4-0 collapse within the second leg of the 2019 semifinal is the final word instance of that — however Actual did.
So whereas Kevin De Bruyne‘s 67th minute equaliser following Vinicius Junior‘s unstoppable opener within the first half tilted the tie in Metropolis’s favour, the margins are nonetheless so tight. Actual can destroy any opponent on the counter-attack, which is why Metropolis held one thing again within the Bernabeu. The concern of being subjected to the identical sort of ruthless ending which value them a spot in final season’s closing was clearly on the forefront of their minds and it’ll nonetheless be there subsequent week.
However coping with that’s the Rubicon that Metropolis should cross. They should take the dangers that can create probabilities for Actual in a high-stakes sport of soccer roulette and, in flip, Actual will try to capitalise on the stress that Metropolis are underneath to lastly win the Champions League.
Actual will strut into the Etihad as 14-time match winners and they’ll take each alternative to make Metropolis undergo an inferiority advanced, however each main crew has to beat that problem — one which Metropolis now have to fulfill. They’ve dominated English soccer for the perfect a part of a decade and established themselves as a serious power in Europe. What they do not have is a defining European victory, so beating Actual subsequent week provides them that chance and it’s a psychological battle as a lot as a soccer one.
So how do they do it? What’s going to make the distinction and allow them to beat the final word Champions League rivals? Two gamers will likely be key — De Bruyne and Erling Haaland. When De Bruyne delivers, as he did within the Bernabeu, Metropolis not often lose. Rewind to the Champions League closing defeat in opposition to Chelsea in 2021 and Metropolis’s hopes nosedived when the Belgian midfielder sustained a damaged cheekbone in a conflict with then-Blues defender Antonio Rudiger on 60 minutes.
Guardiola has managed De Bruyne strategically in latest months. Exhausted each bodily and emotionally by Belgium‘s poor show on the World Cup, Guardiola rested and even dropped De Bruyne within the weeks and months after his return from Qatar, however the plan was to provide the midfielder a break and guarantee he was match and firing at this significant stage of the season. With two targets within the 4-1 Premier League win in opposition to Arsenal final month and the objective in opposition to Actual, De Bruyne is doing precisely what Guardiola deliberate — peaking on the good second.
Haaland, however, has not often strayed from peak type this season. With 51 targets in all competitions, he has been the signing of the season and will show to be one of the necessary signings any membership has ever made if he scores the targets to assist Metropolis pull off a Treble this season. However in Madrid, Haaland was quiet — he registered simply 21 touches of the ball — and was marked out of the sport by Rudiger’s bodily power and consciousness, with defensive associate David Alaba additionally having a big effect on nullifying the Metropolis ahead. Too usually, Haaland’s runs weren’t noticed early sufficient by his teammates, however even nonetheless, this was a uncommon off-night.
But when Haaland is wherever near his greatest subsequent week, Actual could have a mountain to climb to cease him scoring. Metropolis like to begin like a whirlwind on the Etihad and Actual should climate the early storm which could have Haaland on the coronary heart of it. However Actual are Actual and so they have achieved incomprehensible outcomes on this season and others. Metropolis have not misplaced a house leg in a Champions League knockout tie since 2018 and so they have by no means been overwhelmed by Actual on the Etihad, so the shape information favours Guardiola’s crew.
That can solely inspire Actual, nevertheless. They’re crew which relishes overcoming the chances.
“We’ll enter the second leg with the identical confidence and optimism that we will win over there,” Actual midfielder Luka Modric stated. “Neither crew comes away from this with a giant benefit. The tie is open, about 50-50, and we had been fairly positive that nothing can be settled tonight.”
Metropolis at the moment are slight favourites, although, and that brings its personal pressures. They merely must justify that tag and rise to the event. They’ve performed that so many instances, however Actual Madrid aren’t any unusual opponent, so the nightmare might nonetheless return to hang-out Metropolis subsequent week.