Manchester City traveled to Spain to face Real Madrid in the second leg of their UEFA Champion League semi-final showdown. This is the first time the English side had made it this far in the competition, and after a 0-0 draw in the first leg, they had their work cut out for them at the Bernabeu stadium against the team that holds the record for the most European titles with ten.
Real come into the tie full of confidence, especially considering star forward Cristiano Ronaldo is back after missing the first leg due to a thigh injury.
City's defence held firm in last week's goalless draw, but Manuel Pellegrini is forced into a costly early reshuffle as captain Vicent Kompany limps off in the tenth minute. That's the last thing City's under-pressure rearguard need, and in the 20th minute, they fall behind.
Gareth Bale drives into the visitors' penalty area down the right and he is going to attempt a cross that takes a deflection off the sliding Fernando, looping over Joe Hart and in off the far post. It would be counted as Fernando's own goal and it's 1-0 for the Spanish side.
The home team almost go up 2-0 thanks to Pepe just 15 minutes later, but the goal is disallowed for offside following Toni Kroos' free kick. The replay clearly shows Pepe past the last defender so no goal.
Despite Madrid's dominance, City could have levelled just before the break when Kevin De Bruyne finds Fernandinho on the left of the area, and the Brazilian's left-footed shot clips the near post. A good strike from Fernandinho, but the first half ends 1-0 Los Blancos.
The second half gets a bit sloppy for both sides. Bale heads the ball into the cross bar following a corner and Ronaldo then does a two-handed slam dunk to throw the ball into the net. CR7 doing his best Lebron James impersonation because he knew he was offside.
Real hang on for the 1-0 win which is enough to set up an all Spanish final on May 28th against their cross city rivals Atletico Madrid in what will be a replay of the 2014 final that was won by Real for their tenth European crown.
