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Man City masterclass: Real Madrid no match for UCL finalists, favorites – Premier League news, video, scores | Pro SoccerTalk from NBC Sports

Manchester City vs Real Madrid

Manchester City couldn’t be more emphatic as they clinched their place in the UEFA Champions League final with a 4-0 win over Real Madrid (5-1 on aggregate) at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

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Not only were Real Madrid beaten, but they were simply outclassed in every way as Manchester City put on a supremely dominant first half for years and built a two-goal lead without giving the reigning European champions a glimmer of hope.

Manchester City’s first clear goal-scoring opportunity came – and somehow went – in the 13th minute, with Thibaut Courtois performing his typical big-game theatrics. Jack Grealish picked out and reached Erling Haaland with a floating cross into the box, where the great Norwegian headed the ball from close range. Courtois made the first save purely on reflexes, and David Alaba followed both rebounds clear before it trickled over the goal line.

Eight minutes later, Courtois went even bigger with a spectacular save to beat Haaland again. Kevin De Bruyne crossed and Manuel Akanji headed the ball back into the mixer, where Haaland again towered over everyone in black to head the ball back over the goal, only for Coutrois to stop his momentum one way, turn and dove back the other way and push it around the post to hold Los Blancos on level conditions.

However, Manchester City never stopped testing and threatening, and finally Bernardo Silva broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. Kevin De Bruyne picked up Bernardo’s delayed point and played it in with a simple through ball. Courtois rushed out to make himself big, but Bernardo looked far from the post before firing at close range.

More pressure came from Manchester City after the goal as they chased down a second goal, which they conceded in the 37th minute. Bernardo was in the right place at the right time to follow up and clean up the rebound after Ilkay Gündogan pushed his way through traffic and into the penalty area. At halftime it was 13 shots to 1, with 1.54 xG to 0.01 xG.

Goal No. 3 came with fifteen minutes to play when Eder Militao made a mess of his attempt to clear De Bruyne’s free-kick inside the penalty area. Julian Alvarez completed the demolition job with a stoppage-time goal to make it a staggering 4-0 score that night and 5-1 on aggregate.

Stars of the show: Manchester City vs Real Madrid

Photo: FotMob.com

What’s next?

The Champions League final, June 10, in Istanbul, Turkey, versus Inter Milan.

Reaction Manchester City vs Real Madrid

Jack Grealish, reaching the Champions League final…

Bernardo Silva, on his two goals and improving his performance in the first leg…

“It’s a great night for us. We know it was going to be difficult, but to beat this Real Madrid team 4-0 at home was great. Hopefully we’ll win it.

“We know how difficult they are. They pushed us, but we were very resilient, we were passionate but organized at the time.

“My performance in the first game in Madrid was not what I wanted and I wanted to compensate for that. Today I had to do better for my teammates and the fans, and that’s what I tried to do.”

Follow @AndyEdMLS

Manchester City vs Real Madrid, livescore: 4-0 (5-1 agg.)

23rd Minute – Bernardo Silva beats Thibaut Courtois to put Man City 1-0 (3-1 agg.) ahead

37th Minute – Bernardo Silva clears rebound to make it 2-0 (3-1 agg.)

76th minute – Eder Militao takes a look at Kevin De Bruyne’s free kick into his own goal

90th minute +1 – Julian Alvarez beats Thibaut Courtois for 4-0 in stoppage time

How to watch Real Madrid vs Manchester City live, stream link and start time

kick off: 3 p.m. ET, Wednesday (May 17)
updates: Via Scoreboard on NBCSports.com
How to watch: TUDN, Paramount+

Main storylines and star players

All the talk is about whether or not City will win the treble and the Premier League is all but sewn up (a home win against Chelsea this Sunday will seal a third title in a row) and they are favorites to win the FA Cup final against Manchester win United. So this is what it comes down to. Pep had the luxury of resting Kevin de Bruyne over the weekend and Ilkay Gundogan is making another masterful late-season run as he has scored four goals in his last two PL appearances. Pep Guardiola joked that he “don’t think too much” ahead of a big game, while also insisting he isn’t worried about his legacy if they don’t go ahead as City seem very relaxed ahead of this monster clash. And why not? They fly. Defensively, City have found a great formula with their 3-2-4-1 and now it’s about getting their best players into the positions where they can hurt Real Madrid the most.

Speaking of Real Madrid, they have had the luxury of resting their stars as they won the Spanish Cup two weeks ago, but have been a distant second to Barcelona in La Liga this season. Ancelotti saw Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba field Haaland in the first leg and they’ll have to have another dominant display, plus the midfielders ahead of them will also have to stop the spinning of City’s main men. That said, Karim Benzena, Rodrygo, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Vinicius Jr. are all capable of doing a lot of damage on their own.

Manchester City team news, injuries, line-up

OUT: Nathan Ake (thigh)

Real Madrid team news, injuries, lineup

DOUBT: Eduardo Camavinga (knee)

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Written by Ft7Ball

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