2023-04-20 00:02:00
The future target is now a threat. Real Madrid repeats the Champions League semifinal against Manchester City. But this season the crossing has a double added difficulty. The first is the field factor. Unlike a year ago, Madrid will have to start the tie at the Bernabéu (May 9, 9:00 p.m.) and resolve it in the Etihad (May 17, 9:00 p.m.). The second obstacle that has appeared in the way is a well-known player in the white offices: Haaland, the expected signing in 2024, is City’s main weapon.
The presence of the striker, 22, in the ranks skyblue marks the big difference with respect to the tie that gave Madrid the ticket to the final of the 14th. He alone already has more goals (48), than those achieved together in the entire last season by City’s two top scorers, which were Mahrez (24) and De Bruyne (19). only in this Champions League has 12 goals and his poker against RB Leipzig in the round of 16 made him the 13th. player in history to score five goals in a European Cup match. scary numbers.
Fifth meeting with Guardiola in the Champions League
In addition to the incentive of seeing the Norwegian, the tie also brings the curiosity of a new confrontation with Pep Guardiola. It will be the fifth time that Madrid will face off against the Santpedor coach in the Champions League, the fourth time in a semifinal. The balance is even. Guardiola won with Barça in the 2010-11 semis and with City in the 2019-10 round of 16. Ancelotti’s Madrid beat him in the semifinals in 2013-14 against Bayern (0-4 in Munich!) and last season, on the way to the Tenth and the 14th.
| Madrid against Pep Guardiola in the Champions League |
Temp. | Ronda | Ida | Vta. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Madrid-Barcelona | 2010-11 | semifinals | 0-2 | 1-1 |
| Real Madrid-Bayern | 2013-14 | semifinals | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| Real Madrid-Manchester City | 2019-20 | Octaves | 1-2 | 1-2 |
| Manchester City-Real Madrid | 2021-22 | semifinals | 4-3 | 1-3 |
| Real Madrid-Manchester City | 2022-23 | semifinals |
Challenge to the clubs-State
It will also be a new clash between two ways of understanding football: the tradition that Madrid represents and the new model of the clubs-State that has one of its greatest exponents in the City. Since Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates took control of the club in 2008, City have invested 2.15 billion euros in transfers. Since Guardiola’s arrival in 2016, the club skyblue has allocated €1,240 million to reinforce the workforce. In the last three seasons alone, the transfer bill has risen to 462 million. In this same three-year period, Madrid has taken in more (€274M) than it has spent (€111M). That investment has translated into titles for City (they have won the Premier six times when until the arrival of petrodollars they had two English leagues and had not won it for more than 40 years), but the Champions League resists.
The calendar also presents an added difficulty for Madrid. The first leg of the semifinals will be played three days after the Cup final. Madrid will play the season with less than 72 hours rest between the game against Osasuna in Seville and the first leg of the semifinals against City at the Bernabéu.
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