Real Madrid 1-0 Manchester City (agg 1-0): Fernando's own goal ends Manuel Pellegrini's Champions League dream, as Gareth Bale inspires Zinedine Zidane's side to an all-Madrid final
- Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany limped off injured after just 10 minutes
- Gareth Bale's cross is deflected past Joe Hart by Fernando and in off the far post to give Real Madrid the lead
- Sergio Ramos thought he had doubled the home side's advantage, but the goal was ruled out for offside
- Hart denied Luka Modric from close range with a stunning save to keep City in the tie
- But City failed to muster a single shot on target, despite knowing a 1-1 draw would have taken them through
- Real Madrid meet Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final at Milan's San Siro on Saturday, May 28
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It was a strange, sleepwalking exit from the Champions League for Manchester City. Much like their strange, sleepwalking conclusion to the season.
Do City even want to be in this competition next year? They are not approaching the Premier League with any real commitment, jogging along in fourth place, just doing enough in some games to remain ahead of the chasing pack, in others allowing themselves to be reeled in — as happened at Southampton last week
It is Arsenal at home next. Lose that and it could be a desperately tense conclusion to the campaign. Whatever Pep Guardiola is expecting in his first season in Manchester, it won’t be Europa League football.
Gareth Bale's shot takes a deflection off a sliding Fernando and flies into the far corner to give Real Madrid the lead in the Bernabeu
Joe Hart can only watch as the ball beats his despairing dive and finds the back of the net via a touch off the post
Bale celebrates after what he thought was his first Champions League goal of the season, but it was later given as an own goal
This was one for the somnambulists, too. A second 90 minutes of Champions League semi-final football passed without City ever demonstrating the energy needed to make Real Madrid sweat.
Only in the final five minutes did they look as if they were ready to have a go and by then it was far too late.
Real were comfortable, like a boxer who knows he’s got the fight on points and hasn’t been troubled by too many of the punches.
The only way he could lose is if he sticks his chin out. And only once did they stick their chin out.
A free-kick, conceded at a tight angle on the right. Perfect to be whipped into the centre, and with just six minutes left on the clock. A goal now could be it. The old smash and grab. A 1-1 draw would have sent City through on away goals.
Instead, in an act that summed up City’s night, Kevin De Bruyne, chuckle-headedly, tried to beat goalkeeper Keylor Navas at his near post.
The ball was going out by the time it reached the edge of the six-yard box, drilled into the side-netting, a metaphor for City’s ineffectuality on the night. What a disappointment it was.
Raheem Sterling was introduced on 61 minutes, Kelechi Iheanacho on 69 and, at first, it looked as though that was the plan. Get to late in the second half with a single goal needed and then raise the tempo.
Having ridden the storm — Joe Hart had an excellent game, as usual — we waited for City’s to blow. And waited. Drummed our fingers a little and listened to the pale blue end — the only people wearing the same green colours as Manchester City in the stadium were the stewards — as they sang the songs of encouragement. ‘We’re Manchester City, we’ll fight to the end.’
But they didn’t. They played, but they didn’t fight. Say what you like about Leicester, but they would have had a go. They might have got hammered but you would have known they’d been here.
City were anonymous, forgettable. They weren’t bad, they were...meh. Maybe Manuel Pellegrini didn’t have the confidence in his men. Maybe he was worried they could be taken apart. So he settled. Settled for this, a narrow defeat that the scoreline suggests came with honour.
And yes, the winning goal was a deflection, and they lost Vincent Kompany to injury disruptively early — but for all the mitigation this was a disappointing way to end a breakthrough season in Europe.
This whole campaign has been a giant improvement on previous editions, but this last match was not. Madrid should have been nervous going into the final 10 minutes, they should have been frightened that they would stumble and neighbour Atletico would be the city’s sole representatives in Milan later this month.
The crowd should have been tense. But there was no pressure.
Pepe gets up highest to make contact with a delivery into the box, but the Real Madrid defender was unable to direct his header at goal
Manchester City were dealt a blow when their injury-prone captain, Vincent Kompany, went down injured after just 10 minutes
Kompany waves goodbye to the City fans as yet another injury ended his night, with Eliaquim Mangala coming on in his place
Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Isco takes on Bacary Sagna as the home side took control of the second leg
Sergio Aguero looks to get a shot away, but is blocked by Pepe, during what was a rare early attack for the visiting side
Fernando's own goal featured an element of bad luck for City, but was equally the result of their defensive blunders in the build-up
Bale is mobbed by his Real Madrid team-mates Dani Carvajal and Luka Modric after playing a crucial part in the tie's only goal
Sergio Aguero had a shot over, and Navas had to scramble off his line after City spotted Pepe had been dragged out of position making a header, but there was no real goal threat.
By contrast, Real could have been done long before the end had Hart not been on his game again.
In the second half he made several fine saves, beginning with an excellent one from Gareth Bale, put through by Luka Modric after 54 minutes.
A minute later a cross from Dani Carvajal picked out Cristiano Ronaldo, who got unexpected power on his header — and unexpected hang time — to force an equally fine stop.
And in the 59th minute, substitute Lucas Vazquez put Ronaldo through only for Hart to stand equal to the challenge again. Soon after, Bale hit the bar following a corner and if any of those chances had gone in, the match would have been over. City were in no condition to chase down two.
Sergio Ramos thought he had doubled Real's advantage when he poked past Hart, but Pepe had already been adjudged offside
Hart collects the ball, and only the performance of the City and England goalkeeper kept City in the game for so long
Cristiano Ronaldo, back in the Real Madrid side after missing the first leg through injury, controls the ball in the City half
Jesus Navas skips past Isco, but City's Spanish winger was unable to produce a telling cross after beating his man
Of course, Pellegrini didn’t have much luck as Real Madrid manager, and he didn’t get much in the first half here, either.
Just as City looked to be settling down, they lost captain and key defender Kompany, and just as they were getting over that blow, Madrid scored through a deflection off Fernando.
Kompany’s injury City couldn’t do a thing about — although if it proves to be the 15th calf-related problem of his career, Guardiola’s reluctance to build the defence around him next season can be fully understood.
But Bale’s goal was the culmination of a succession of errors that is always going to lead to trouble at this level.
Nicolas Otamendi, for instance, was quick to appeal for offside but not so quick to get up to hold the line, meaning it was he who played Bale on.
Gael Clichy was at fault, too, slow to close down the danger, so Fernando was always going to be overstretched trying to block what most thought was intended as a cross.
It was turned into a shot, and an unstoppable one, by the rerouting off Fernando, which sent it past Hart and into the far top corner.
The agony on his face said it all. It has taken a lot to beat him in Europe this season, but he could do nothing about that.
The saving grace for City was that it did not alter their mission. They still needed to score one to progress and all Madrid’s goal did really was give them confidence — and they seemed to have plenty of that already, the players high-fiving each other in the warm-up.
Carvajal and Jese combine to keep Mangala away from the ball near the corner flag, with Real holding City at arm's length
Nicolas Otamendi tries to hold off Ronaldo, who feels the full force of the Argentinian defender's elbow during the tussle for the ball
Germany star Toni Kroos swings over a dangerous Real Madrid free kick as the home side pushed for a second goal to wrap up the tie
Bale caused the City defence plenty of problems, as he slips between challenges from Kevin De Bruyne and Gael Clichy
Jese holds off Mangala's challenge as Real Madrid dominated without carving their visitors open on too many occasions
Modric is denied from seven yards by a sensational Hart save, as the England keeper prevented Real scoring their second
Former Tottenham star Modric cannot believe he has missed, after he had beaten the offside trap to go through on goal
Fernandinho clears the ball from danger acrobatically with Otamendi, Fernando and De Bruyne watching on during the semi-final
Aguero looks to shrug off Ramos, but City, who knew a single goal would turn the tie in their favour, rarely worked Keylor Navas
Their mood could only have improved after 10 minutes when Kompany was left stricken. He seemed to be in pain after kicking the ball and limped forlornly towards the sanctuary of the sidelines, not for the first time this season.
Eliaquim Mangala then entered, and Ronaldo immediately moved into the centre for his early involvement, sensing blood.
He didn’t get much change in the first half, though, the best of it being a 14th-minute header from Carvajal’s cross.
Defensively, though, City performed better than anticipated after Kompany’s withdrawal, the best first-half chance probably an exquisite pass by man-of-the-match Modric that fell to Marcelo.
He was allowed too much space, cut inside from the left and hit a shot that curled across the face of goal.
Ronaldo had several efforts on goal, but found Hart a match for him as Real failed to find the second goal that would have ended the tie
Ronaldo elects to slam the ball into the back of the net using his hands, but the Real Madrid striker had already been flagged offside
City’s only real opportunity came after 44 minutes, a lovely run, right to left, from Jesus Navas, ending with an equally fine pass to De Bruyne. He put Fernandinho in and the Brazilian struck a low shot which hit the outside of the post.
City fans are new to this late stage of the competition so may even see it as a praiseworthy performance. In reality, it was too timid by half.
Real Madrid gave City their hats and coats, shook hands, thanked them for coming, sent them on their way, all the while contemplating the real test of Diego Simeone’s Atletico.
It was a frustrating night for Aguero, as City failed to muster a single shot on target as Real Madrid put them out of the Champions League
Real Madrid gave City their hats and coats, shook hands, thanked them for coming, sent them on their way - now they face Atletico
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