Manchester, April 18
Antonio Rudiger stared down the goalkeeper, took a deep breath, and drilled home the decisive penalty, proving once again there is no tougher task in club football than beating Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Madrid’s victory over Manchester City after a penalty shootout on Wednesday sent them to a record 17th semifinals appearance and kept them on course to add to their unequalled haul of 14 European Cups.
It was fitting that Rudiger finished off City after he anchored a spirited defensive effort by Madrid that weathered wave after wave of attacks by Pep Guardiola’s side.
For Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, it was a question of survival. “There was only one way to get out of here alive. We had to dig in and fight hard,” Ancelotti said. “We showed the attitude and commitment demanded by this jersey. This is a very special competition for us and we always deliver something that people are not expecting us to produce. Everyone was writing us off but we’re still here.”
Those football purists who delight in Guardiola’s passing-and-pressure game (think Barcelona fans) like to say Madrid lacks a distinctive style. But as Ancelotti has said, he doesn’t want his team to have a “set philosophy” that would make it predictable; his team must be chameleonic so it can adapt to each rival, each game, each moment.
City completely dominated the ball in the away leg of their quarterfinal in Manchester — even though they never led and needed Kevin De Bruyne to cancel out Rodrygo’s opener — and hemmed mighty Madrid into their box for most of the match and extra time.
But Madrid showed that their strength lies in their ability to do whatever is needed to get a win.
Kimmich wins it
Munich: Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich powered in a 63rd-minute header to give the Germans a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in and send them through to the semifinals for the first time in four years with a 3-2 aggregate win. Germany international Kimmich timed his run into the box perfectly to connect with a Raphael Guerreiro cross and put Bayern, who had earlier hit the woodwork twice from a double chance, in the driving seat following a 2-2 first-leg draw.
The Bavarians, enduring their worse domestic season in more than a decade, will next face Real Madrid in the last-four stage. — Agencies