How Real Madrid vs Manchester City played out

Real Madrid came out on top in spectacular fashion over Manchester City in one of the greatest Champions League matchups of all time. Here's how the Semi-Final tie went down.

It's probably now fair to say that Real Madrid are the masters of the Champions League.

They have been a part of absolute classics in consecutive rounds in this campaign, first with Chelsea and now with Manchester City.

And who would've thought they'd be making the final after losing to Sheriff Tarispol in the group stages!

Last night, Real displayed a fantastic showing of resilience, fighting till the end even when the odds where seemingly completely stacked against them.

They made City pay for missing their opportunities to put the tie to bed, and in the end, Real booked their place in Paris to face Liverpool once more for the grandest prize in club football.

Today, we're going to take a look back at the two legs that formed this spectacular Semi-Final, and see exactly how Real won it.

 

Possession & Passing

The battle for possession was fairly close. Overall, it went the way of the team from Manchester, with City controlling 60% possession in the first leg and 53% in the second, for an average total of 57% over the two legs. Of course, that meant Real held 40% in the first leg and 47% in the second for 43% average over the two games.

The possession looking this way is no real surprise. For a side that has done this well and who is also champion of their domestic league, Real have not been that dominant in possession this campaign. They have an average of 52% possession in the competition this year, which is 13th for all teams competing in the Champions League this year. Comparatively, Manchester City come in at the number six spot with 61%.

But it's not all about how much possession a team has, it's what they do with it.

For passing, City took the overall advantage again. They made 1,155 of their 1,360 attempted passes, an 85% success rate.

Real managed to keep with them, though. Or at least they were for success rate. They had an 81% success rate, making 848 passes from 1,049 attempts.

City made the better attacking passes, though. They had 88 progressive passes to Real's 46, and they had 24 passes that directly lead to a shot. Real were close behind with 19.

The Spanish side did narrowly beat City on crosses, 24 to 23, and of course, it was a goal from a cross that lead to the tie going to extra time.

 

Shooting

For shooting, City got a fair few more shots off than Real did. They had 31 shots in total to Real's 23.

They were also more accurate with their shots on target. 14 of their 31 shots hit the target for a 45% accuracy rate. Real had eight shots on target, giving them a 35% accuracy rate.

For Real, that was very much on par for them. They have a 37.1% shots on target percentage for the campaign, so they were only just slightly under over the two games.

For City, they greatly overachieved the rate they have been at this campaign. This year in the Champions League, they have a 34.6% shots on target percentage, meaning they overachieved in the Semi-Finals by 10.4%.

 

Defending

Real Madrid did the most defending between the two, and they did so really well. City had slightly more tackles over the two games - 46 to Real's 40 - but that was largely it.

Real made a good amount more interceptions; 39 to 21. Interceptions are arguably the best defensive action as they can be turned into an instant counter attack.

They also had the more secure goalkeeper. Ederson faced four shots in both games, so eight altogether, and saved two in both games, four in total, for an even and respectable 50% save percentage.

Thibaut Courtois wasn't as secure in the first leg. He made just one save from five shots on target, conceding four goals.

But the second leg, he was in prime form and should be praised for being one of the big reasons why Real will now face Liverpool in Paris.

He faced nine shots on the night and saved eight of them, for an 88% save percentage. The first legs 20% save percentage brought his average down to 64%, but that is still incredibly respectable.