Manchester City v Real Madrid Champions League: The return leg of the Champions League quarter-final was as exciting as it could possibly get even though the previous match was full of goals, having ended at 3-3 with Manchester City coming away with the advantage in the form of having to play the second match at its home ground at the Etihad Stadium. It was a match that would see two of the most successful managers in Europe, in the form of Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti, come face to face with one bound to leave in defeat. And it was none other than Pep Guardiola.

Much to the heartbreak of City fans, their side just could not turn their goal-scoring power on despite dominating the match.

The match started on an even note with both sides trying to open up spaces for the men at front but with little success. However, it was Madrid that managed to be the one that had the first shot at goal with Eduardo Camavinga trying to curve the ball into the far corner but Ederson snagged it easily enough. That was in the 11th minute.

Barely a minute later - GOAL! Real Madrid broke through with ease and Rodrygo simply tapped the ball into the net from close range! It silenced the Etihad! Real Lead City 4-3 on aggregate.

While Rodrygo may have been the one to score, Vinicius Junior was the one who did all the hard work of breaking into the City box and squaring the ball for Rodrygo.

The Brazilian forward was denied at first by a brilliant snap save by Ederson, but the rebound fell kindly for a simple finish.

Now, there was no choice left for City except to attack. And that is what they did, but they just did not manage to create the chance to put the ball into the net with Real Madrid defense doing a brilliant job of marking all the City's danger men.

The best try was when Haaland managed to hit the bar with a header, but his luck before the goal is continuing.

With City bent on attacking play, it left gaps at the back that Vinicius exploited with his amazing pace and his pass to Dani Carvajal almost let in another goal and it too a blinding slide by a City defender to deny it in the 19th minute.

By the 40th minute, City was in complete control of the match, but they were trailing. City had a 61-39 ball possession took 10 shots on goal while Madrid had just five.

It was also clear that Real Madrid was playing for the half-time whistle to get a breather from all the defending they were having to do. Half-time score - Rea Madrid 4 - City 3 (Aggregate).

The second-half started as the first-half ended - with City trying to breach the Real Madrid defense, but with no luck at all. From Jack Grealish, Foden to Haaland, they threw everything into the attack, but the final pass was always beyond their reach.

One statistics that indicated City's dominance was that the team had won 13 corner kicks to none by Real Madrid.

It was time for Guardiola to do something. He made the tough choice of taking Grealish off in the 73rd minute even though the player was proving quite effective and brought on Jeremy Doku.

And GOAL!

Barely 3 minutes afer the substitution, Kevin De Bruyne, who was having an uncharacteristically quite night slammed one to level the scores. City restored the advantage - they are playing at home, remember?

A cross from the left was not properly cleared by Antonio Rudiger and the ball came towards De Bruyne and he smashed it from just 7 yards out.

And just 2 minutes later, De Bruyne had the best chance to put City ahead, but fluffed it. He got an opportunity to shoot from just outside the box, but a brilliant Andriy Lunin just managed to tip it over the goal.

Now, it was time for Ancelotti to ring in some changes and he brought on old war horse Luka Modric for Toni Kroos.

However, immediately thereafter, De Bruyne had another chance to score. Fed by the irrepressible Doku, from the left side of the box, a completely unmarked De Bruyne fired it over. Amazing scenes at Etihad as everyone simply held their heads and let out a loud moan!

Did he just kick the trophy away? Was the question on every fan's mind.

Four minutes of added time did not help resolve the stalemate and it ended 4-4 on aggregate.

Extra time

The biggest point of the extra time period was Gurdiola replacing Haaland with Julian Alvarez! And amazingly tough decision to make, but considering that the only chance he got was crashed into the bar, it was a well-thought out decision. Alvarez brought fresh legs and a wider skill-set to the match for City.

A wonderful spell was being cast by Doku on the Madrid defense and once City actually came close to scoring from his pass from the left into the 6 yard box. However, no one got a foot to it.

These were all chances that City finally rued missing.

Ultiamtley teh fate of the tie was decided by penalties and Real Madrid held their nerve to win it and that too at the Etihad, sending the defending champions crashing out of the tournament, thereby also ending their bid for a treble.

.This is how the penalties ended.

Manchester City: 1 X X 1 1

Real Madrid: X 1 1 1 1

The penalty score: City 3, Madrid 4

The match had ended in regulation time at 1-1.

Before the match - the teams

Manchester City (4-2-3-1)

Ederson; Kyle Walker (capt), Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol; Rodri, Bernardo Silva; Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland

Coach: Pep Guardiola (ESP)

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1)

Andriy Lunin; Dani Carvajal (capt), Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, Ferland Mendy; Eduardo Camavinga, Toni Kroos; Fede Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo Goes; Vinicius Junior

Coach: Carlo Ancelotti (ITA)

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