Pep Guardiola would have to wait a bit longer to end his Champions League drought following manchester City's second-half implosion against Real Madrid.
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Real Madrid stun Manchester City with historic comeback
A breathtaking final 25 minutes saw Real Madrid come from two goals behind on aggregate, to stun Manchester City and book their Champions League finals ticket.
A quick brace from Rodrygo helped Real Madrid qualify for yet another Champions League final
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Coming into the fixture, Kevin De Bruyne reiterated the importance of winning the Champions League, but it was another playmaker who excited early on. Bernardo Silva controlled a perfectly weighted ball and fired a good shot on target, but Thibaut Courtois flew to his right side to acrobatically deny the Portuguese midfielder.
Thibaut Courtois did well to deny Bernardo Silva
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The game was a start-stop affair with Real Madrid and Casemiero particularly preventing the game from progressing with the number of reckless fouls.
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In the 40th minute, Phil Foden created space for himself on his left foot before whipping a powerful effort towards the goal, but once again, Courtois was having none of it and made another great stop.
Phil Foden battles for the ball with Nacho Fernandez
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Real Madrid almost hit the away side with a sucker punch when Vinicius nearly put them ahead barely a minute after Foden's chance. The Brazilian winger weaved his way past the opposing defence, but Ruben Dias did well to get the ball away.
At the start of the second half, Vinicius came close again following a swift Real Madrid attack, the young winger threw himself at a delicious cross from Dani Carvajal but narrowly missed the target.
Vinicius narrowly missed a good cross from Dani Carvajal
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With the game perfectly balanced, Guardiola made the suspicious move to remove Kevin De Bruyne, but the decision seemed to pay immediate dividends when Manchester City took the lead.
Bernardo Silva went on a direct run before laying the ball off to Algerian forward Riyad Mahrez, who fired a first time shot into the corner of the net beyond a helpless Thibaut Courtois.
Riyad Mahrez put Manchester City ahead in the 75th minute
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Manchester City nearly doubled their lead twice through Jack Grealish. The England international skipped past the Madrid defenders and Thibaut Courtois, but Ferland Mendy made a goal-line clearance.
Grealish came close again, this time driving a shot towards the bottom right corner from inside the box, but Thibaut Courtois stood tall to deny him. Manchester City was soon made to pay for their wasteful finishing, and a few minutes of magic were enough to dump the English giants out of the tournament.
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Talismanic forward Karim Benzema cut in and floated a good ball across the box for Rodrygo, whose first-time shot flew past Ederson and sparked thoughts of a comeback.
A quickfire brace from Rodrygo was enough to force the game into extra time
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Unbelievably, Madrid took the lead less than two minutes later, and it was the same culprit. Marco Asensio brought down a good pass before whipping a delicious cross and Rodrygo once again finished with no issues.
The Brazilian nearly made it a five-minute hat-trick when he found himself on the end of a great pass, but his snapshot was confidently beaten away by Ederson.
The momentum remained with Real Madrid, and it looked like Manchester City was never in control of the match. The final blow came halfway through the first half of extra time.
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Ruben Dias made a late challenge on Karim Benzema, and the referee immediately blew for a penalty. Benzema stepped up to confidently sent Ederson the wrong way to put Madrid ahead for the first time in the tie.
Karim Benzema sealed a place in the final for Real Madrid
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Despite the introduction of Raheem Sterling, Manchester City were unable to deny Real Madrid of a place in their 17th Champions League final.
This victory for Real Madrid means they have set up a repeat of the 2018 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
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