The statistics of the second leg of the
Champions League
between
Manchester City
and
Real Madrid
show absolute superiority of
Pep Guardiola
's team , although they ended up eliminated in the penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw.
Carlo Ancelotti's
team
ended up surrendering to the tactics of the remembered Italian "catenaccio" and were pure resistance: they came out alive after
118 attacks and 34 shots
by the English team, with
11 saves
by the Ukrainian goalkeeper
Andriy Lunin
, the unexpected hero of the night.
City's dominance, overwhelming numerically, did not mean a pass to the semifinals for Guardiola's team. Always dominating the ball, as happens in every game he plays, he finished Wednesday's duel with
64 percent of the possession
, and with
93 percent success in the passes
that caused Real Madrid to retreat until they were locked in. .
Ancelotti's initial intention, who did not want an
ultra-defensive
Real Madrid with two lines attached to their area, did not last long. His players only went under pressure at the start of the game and it didn't take them long to find
reward
for the transitions worked on in training.
The counterattack vision of
Jude Bellingham
, the speed of
Vinícius
and the opportunism of
Rodrygo
were a fundamental factor in their passage to the semifinals. Real Madrid was barely able to exploit it against a rival who also stood out physically. Despite having more of the ball, Guardiola's men ran up to 6 kilometers more than the Madrid team:
154.3 total for City against 147.6 for Real Madrid
.
The numbers support Guardiola's pride in his team after the game. "Madrid defended very far back, with a lot of solidarity.
We gave everything, I don't regret anything
. We have done everything, both defensively and offensively. It is what it is," said the Spaniard, but not before congratulating Ancelotti's team.
"In another sport, statistically, we would have won, but football has this wonderful thing," Pep reflected, and closed: "I, as a coach, can only ask this of my players. Of course I give credit to Madrid,
they have been able to hold on and resist
. We have faced many closed teams and we always found a way to find a gap, today we lacked it."
Five passes from Rodrygo to Vinícius, the player with whom he connected the most on the field. Three from Vinícius to Rodrygo. Only on
eight
occasions were they able to connect two players who were victims of the development of the match, making
a great defensive effort
and giving up their freshness in the attacking phase. With greater incidence of 'Vini' in the readings of the counterattack and the good management of the few moments that he came into contact with the ball.
Bellingham, who had to feed both, barely found Vinícius's movements in two passes and Rodrygo's in four. His most recurrent association was with
Fede Valverde
, named best player of the match after a new aerobic demonstration, whom he found in
eight passes
.
The weight of the match assumed by City did not leave a horizontal game: they attempted
932 passes
against just 473 for Real Madrid. He always looked for a way to create imbalance and look for weaknesses in the rival defense. He had a total of 34 shots, eleven of them on goal, according to UEFA statistics. Ancelotti's men, who
did not enter the rival area in the entire second half
, attempted eight shots and three went to Ederson's goal.
According to data from
BeSoccer
for EFE,
City touched the ball 77 times in the Madrid area
. This is the highest figure for a rival in the Madrid area since the 2021-22 season, even doubling that also recorded by Guardiola's Manchester in last season's rout (4-0) at the Etihad. In contrast, 'Carletto''s team barely touched the ball nine times in the rival area.
The award for Real Madrid's great defensive effort was given thanks to the great sacrifice of its stars, for their good positioning, blocking up to twelve shots from Guardiola's players, and emerging victorious in the head-to-head duels. With
Andriy Lunin
as the decisive factor. The Ukrainian goalkeeper was powerful in the aerial game, with four punched clearances, he added eleven saves including overtime, in addition to the two penalties saved in the final shootout.
With information from Agencies