Real Madrid secures UEFA Champions League final spot

 

Real Madrid will play Liverpool in the final of the UEFA Champions League on May 28 after getting past Manchester City in the semi-final.

The Los Blancos are gunning for their 14th UEFA Champions League title, but that looked very slim after their semi-final first leg ended in a 4-3 defeat to Manchester City at Etihad last week.

They were also held to a first goalless draw at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, and the tie became tough when Manchester City took the lead after Riyad Mahrez scored in the 73rd minute.

However, there was a big twist when Real Madrid scored two goals in the 90th minute. The first was from Rodrygo in the 90, while he added another a minute later to force extra time for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Karim Benzema then scored a penalty in the 95th minute of the extra time. The goal means Karim Benzema is the second player to score 10 Champions League knockout phase goals in a single season after Cristiano Ronaldo did for the Los Blancos in the 2016/2017 season.

The French forward is just a goal away from surpassing Raul’s tally for goals scored in all competitions for the Galacticos. Benzema has 322 goals while Raul has 323 goals, but Ronaldo still remains Real Madrid’s record goalscorer with 450 goals.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti stated that the team’s momentum towards the end of the game was the difference-maker.

“The game was close to finished, and we managed to find the last energy we had. We played a good game against a strong rival. When we are able to equalize, we had a psychological advantage in extra time. I have no time to think about this [losing the game]. It was difficult as City had control of the game, but at the last opportunity, we were able to go to extra-time.” Ancelotti said.

 

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu