The lights of The Etihad shone bright that night, The stadium a sea of chequered blue and white, the streamers fired proudly from above, it was an outpouring of Love for club. Manchester City, the boys in blue and white, we were once again about to face the might of the famous Real Madrid, once so quick on their toes, they earned themselves the nickname of, ‘The White Ghosts’.
The decibels deafened as the teams came out and, inevitably our Club anthem, ‘Blue Moon’ rang out loudly, as 53,000 fans sang proudly.
In the early stages we dominated the possession and a couple of chances came our way, a Rodri shot went wide and two Haaland headers were brilliantly saved, Bernardo was all action, there was nowhere for Madrid to hide. And eventually the breakthrough came,(min 22.43) a master strike from one of the great masters of the modern game! All hail the maestro Bernardo as he cut inside and let a powerful left footer go, and BANG! It’s in the net, a near corner rocket, he had every Madrid defender in his pocket! Everyone went wild, every man woman and child, Pep is celebrating, Grealish is looking wild with joy and elation, it’s already looking like the beginnings of a masterclass, from Pep’s latest football creation.
On 34 mins, Madrid began a little scurry into our half, and Kroos took a shot that looked a goal until the mighty Ederson took control, and with the smallest of touches from his fingertips, onto the crossbar that ball hits.
Sighs of relief mixed in with the tension, you could feel the home crowd’s apprehension. We need another goal to begin to settle things down and keep us on our quest for our European crown.And on 36 minutes, it came, the game-changer, the power re-arranger, and who else could it be but our amazing number twenty, Bernardo Silva is giving them plenty to think about, and this time it’s a perfectly placed header, and leaves no-one in any doubt. What a goal, what a player, he’s the king of the White Ghost slayers!
It’s 2 nil now, 2 – 1 on aggregate, and we’re playing great. We know Real can win games late so no-one’s getting carried away, but tonight, it just feels right..
In minute fifty Alaba hits a nifty free kick towards Ederson’s top right corner, It’s a stormer! it’s classy but Ederson is always brave, he dives across and somehow gets his hand to it, what a save!
On 72 minutes Haaland gets through, him and Courtois are having a great battle, Haaland side foots it but Courtois gets there and onto the crossbar that ball rattled.
On minute 75, looks like hope’s no longer alive for Real Madrid as they score an own goal. we’re now 4 - 1 on aggregate, 3 - 0 on the night, and we’re looking full of skill, energy, tricks, joy and fight. There’s no feeling of relief, but us Blues are now beginning to believe.
Then, in the 90th minute we strike again, the two young subs, Foden and Alvarez combine, and what a night! What a time to be a Blue, so great to see these two youngsters, one a born and bred Manc and the other an Argentinian little tank of energy, speed and skill. And now we know, this is the goal that will take us to Istanbul for The champions league final v Inter. 4 - 0 on the night, 5 - 1 on aggregate, a complete and utter mauling of those once known as, ‘The ghosts in white’.
City passed through them like they were real ghosts tonight, and gave them one hell of a fright.
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