Real Madrid and Manchester City meet for the fourth time in Champions League knockout stage
Real Madrid will seek a place in the 2022-2023 Champions League final in Istanbul against the same opponent as last season, English side Manchester City, with whom they will meet in the top continental competition for the fifth time, the fourth time in the knockout stage in the last seven years.
Memories from last season
Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola will face each other in a Champions League knockout stage with the memory of what happened last season when the Madrid team, after losing the first leg at the Etihad Stadium 4-3 in a spectacular duel, was able to come back at the Santiago Bernabeu, where they won 3-1 after extra time and when they were down 0-1 in the 90th minute, when Rodrygo Goes scored two goals.
The first time
The first time City and Real Madrid met in the Champions League was in the 2015-2016 season, also in the penultimate round. The Madrid team, coached by Zinédine Zidane, first had to visit a City team coached by a former player like Manuel Pellegrini. In a disputed match, there was a goalless draw and everything had to be decided at the Santiago Bernabéu where only an own goal by Fernando, who deflected a shot by Gareth Bale, tipped the scales for the madridistas, champions in San Siro against Atlético de Madrid.
Guardiola took revenge
The two teams had to wait four years to meet again in the European Cup, with the ‘citizen’ team already coached by Pep Guardiola and who took revenge for that elimination, although it was in the round of 16. This time, the first match was at the Santiago Bernabeu where Isco gave the home side the lead in the second half, before the English team came back with goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kevin de Bruyne from the penalty spot, in a final stretch where Sergio Ramos was sent off.
Always very evenly matched
The second leg of this tie could not be played at the Etihad Stadium until August due to the coronavirus pandemic. City, despite not having the support of the crowd, also won 2-1 to seal their place in the ‘Final 8’ in Portugal. Raheem Sterling, after a mistake by Varane, gave Guardiola’s side the lead shortly after the start of the match and Karim Benzema equalized in the first half, but Gabriel Jesus did not forgive another mistake by the French center-back to seal the win. In addition to these two encounters, Real Madrid and Manchester City were drawn in the group stage of the 2012-2013 campaign. Madrid won 3-2 at home, despite trailing 1-2 in the 87th minute, while at the Etihad Stadium there was a one-goal draw.
Fifth time Guardiola has crossed paths with the 14-time European champions in the Champions League
This will also be the fifth time, the fourth with a place in the final at stake, that Pep Guardiola will meet the 14-time European champions in the Champions League, where he has a 2-2 record so far. In addition to the two mentioned above with the ‘citizens’, the first was in the memorable semi-final duel of the 2010-2011 season when he was in charge of FC Barcelona and won the first leg 0-2 at the Bernabeu with a brace from Leo Messi to seal their passage to the final at Wembley with a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou.
With Bayern, Guardiola was swept aside by Ancelotti’s team
Subsequently, it took three years for the man from Santpedor to meet Real Madrid again, now as Bayern coach and facing Carlo Ancelotti. It was again in the semifinals, in the 2013-2014 season, when a goal by Karim Benzema gave the Madridistas the advantage in the first leg at the Bernabeu, and they went on to win 4-0 in the second leg at the Allianz Arena.
