Stunning long-distance goals from Vinícius Júnior and Kevin De Bruyne and some stunning saves from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Ederson last week in Madrid mean Real Madrid and Manchester City have everything to play for on Wednesday.
Last week was not just a collision of great teams, though: It was also a collision of ideas, Rory Smith wrote:
“This Champions League semifinal was, on a macro level, always going to be cast not just as a tussle between old glory and new money, the establishment and the aspirant, but as a conceptual collision, too. Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid is inherently improvisational and player-centric; Guardiola believes, more than anything, in the power of his collective, his system. It is free jazz against orchestral arrangement. (The score, after the first of two legs, is 1-1; no sweeping conclusions on scant evidence can yet be drawn.)
“For all their philosophical differences, what was striking about this game was just how aware both teams were of the other’s strengths, their capacity to inflict damage. That, more than anything, might have been the enduring lesson of their encounter in a semifinal last season: Madrid conscious of just how good City can be; City conscious that a team can be as good as it likes against Madrid and still lose.”
Tonight demands a winner, though, no matter what — and how long — it takes.
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