Manchester City’s dreams of retaining the Champions League were shattered after a dramatic penalty shoot-out loss to Real Madrid.

Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic both missed from the spot as City were beaten 4-3 on penalties after their pulsating quarter-final tie ended 4-4 on aggregate.

Rodrygo had given Real an early lead in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium but City otherwise dominated and, after creating a host of chances, finally made it 1-1 on the night through Kevin De Bruyne in the 76th minute.

De Bruyne spurned a good chance to win the tie in normal time and Erling Haaland had earlier hit the crossbar but it was the competition’s record 14-time winners who ultimately prevailed.

It was harsh on City, who had immediately set out their stall to dominate possession.

Despite their control, however, the hosts looked vulnerable to the counter-attack and were caught out after 12 minutes.

Jude Bellingham brilliantly controlled a high ball with the outside of his foot and found Federico Valverde, who in turn fed Vinicius Junior in the box.

Vinicius pulled back for Rodrgyo and, although Ederson did well to beat out his powerful first-time shot, he could do nothing to deny his fellow Brazilian on the rebound.

City stepped up the tempo in response and created a host of chances.

Haaland sent a header against the bar and Silva missed the rebound before De Bruyne forced Andriy Lunin to save from 25 yards.

Jack Grealish twice went close with two efforts deflected wide and De Bruyne had two attempts on goal direct from corners, with Lunin palming both over.

Phil Foden also missed the target as City kept up the pressure but Josko Gvardiol needed to block a Dani Carvajal shot to prevent Real snatching a second on the break.

City started the second half strongly and Nacho needed to scramble clear off the line with Haaland lurking after a mix-up in the Real box.

Yet Foden could only manage a weak shot at Lunin and there were signs of frustration as the game passed the hour mark with Pep Guardiola trying to rouse the crowd.

City pressed on with Grealish shooting at Lunin and their persistence finally paid off as Antonio Rudiger could only half-clear a cross from substitute Jeremy Doku and De Bruyne clipped home the loose ball.

With the crowd energised, City stepped on the accelerator and De Bruyne sent a dipping shot narrowly over before skying an even better chance.

City kept the pressure on until the end of normal time but could not find a way through Real’s stubborn defence.

Haaland was sacrificed for extra time and Foden spurned a good chance when he mis-kicked in front of goal.

Real attacks remained rare but Kyle Walker, underlining an impressive return after injury, raced back to prevent Vinicius escaping and Rudiger put a chance over.

It came down to penalties and, although Ederson lifted City by saving from Luka Modric, Lunin denied both Silva and Kovacic to send Real through.

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X reacts as Real Madrid hold on to dump Man City out of Champions League
Real Madrid needed penalties to eliminate Man City from the Champions League quarter-final
Rodrygo & Kevin De Bruyne netted in regular time; Erling Haaland substituted after quiet game
Antonio Rudiger crashed home the winning penalty

By Tom Gott
Apr 17, 2024
Real Madrid are through to the semi-final
Real Madrid are through to the semi-final / Naomi Baker/GettyImages
After 210 minutes of play and a penalty shoot-out, Real Madrid finally got their name in the Champions League semi-final at Manchester City's expense.

They had to hang on for a 1-1 draw in regular time and were fighting for their lives at times, but Madrid are at their best when wounded and they once again got the job done against perhaps the favourite to win the entire tournament.


Rodrygo opened the scoring in the first half with a scrappy finish that came around after Kyle Walker played the Brazilian onside.

Unfortunately for the City defender, eagle-eyed fans were keen to let him know about his mistake.





A quick rewind of the highlight showed a stunning touch from Jude Bellingham in the build-up.




Erling Haaland hit the bar with a looping header in what was pretty much his only involvement in the game.

Bernardo Silva bundled the rebound wide and it started to feel as though it was not going to be City's night.



The City pressure kept coming and coming and coming, but for all their endeavour, Pep Guardiola's side could not find a way through.


That was until Kevin De Bruyne finally connected the dots in the final third, picking up a loose ball in the box and crashing home with 15 minutes left in regular time.



City kept coming but there were to be no further goals before we headed to extra time.



Extra time now. Away goals would have robbed us of this classic. Big W @UEFA

— Jorindel (@RINDELJAZZY) April 17, 2024
Guardiola made the bold decision to keep Haaland on the bench for extra time, clearly unhappy with the Norwegian's contribution over these two legs.



Luka Modric was the first to miss from the spot.

At the time, it looked like it could be a fatal miss.



But Bernardo Silva was quick to bail Modric out with an incredibly brave penalty that dinked right into the hands of Andriy Lunin, who did not dive and made the Portugal international look a fool.


Lunin was the hero once again as he denied Mateo Kovacic, putting Madrid just one penalty away from victory.


Up stepped Antonio Rudiger. Game over.




Related Topics
Champions League
Real Madrid CF
Manchester City FC
Bernardo Silva
Jude Bellingham
Pep Guardiola
Erling Haaland

Mikel Arteta: What Arsenal still have to play for is beautiful

Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to end their season in “beautiful” fashion after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich.

The Gunners lost 1-0 at the Allianz Arena as Joshua Kimmich’s second-half header was enough to seal a semi-final against Real Madrid with a 3-2 aggregate victory.

It followed on from a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa on Sunday that has dented Arsenal’s Premier League title chances.

They travel to Wolves on Saturday evening needing a reaction to a poor week and Arteta feels his side will approach the game in the correct manner.

Asked how painful the Champions League exit was, the Spaniard said: “It’s there.

“It’s not going to go away, certainly tonight, but I can guarantee you by tomorrow we’re fully focused on Wolves and everybody is lifted.

“What we still have to play for is beautiful. I said before it’s time to be next to these players.

“It’s easy to be behind them and praise the players and talk nice things when we win 10 in a row and one draw.

“The moment is now to be behind them and be next to them.”

After a tight game in which Bayern also hit the woodwork twice and Gabriel Martinelli missed a glorious chance to put the away side ahead, Arteta said his side are continuing to learn after returning to the Champions League for the first time in seven years.

“We haven’t played this competition for seven years and we haven’t been in this stage for 14 years,” he added.

“There’s a reason for it. We want to do everything fast forward, super quick in one season. I think we have the capacity and the quality to be in the semi-final because the margins are very small.

“Those margins are coming from something else that maybe we don’t have yet. We have to learn it. When you look historically it took other clubs seven, eight or 10 years to do it. Today that’s not going to make us feel better that’s for sure.”

While Arsenal are still relatively inexperienced at this level, Bayern are now preparing for a ninth semi-final in the competition since the Gunners last made it that far.

Manager Thomas Tuchel also becomes just the second man, after Jose Mourinho, to guide three different clubs to the final four and was pleased with the performance of the hosts.

“It’s always better to play in front of your own fans,” he said.

“With every tackle and every good action you get the support and it lifts you and gives you a second wind.

“Now it’s the semi-finals and everyone needs to step up – we need to step up and the supporters need to step up again.

“It was a chess game in the first half. Nobody wanted to make the first mistake. Everyone played a bit safe – there were moments for us, there were moments for Arsenal.

“We encouraged the team at half-time to show a bit more personality, a bit more courage. We were more fluid and played a fantastic second half. We deserved to win.”