Manchester City have it all to do if they’re to remain in the Champions League this season after Real Madrid ran out 3-2 winners at the Etihad Stadium.
Before the game, City stoked the fire with a banner aimed at Rodri winning the Balon d’Or over Real Madrid’s star players – which naturally caused quite a stir.
Things were going according to plan for Pep Guardiola. Erling Haaland had fired City into an early lead with his 27th goal of the season after just 19 minutes of the contest.
However, Los Blancos equalised on the hour when Kylian Mbappe scored after an assist from former Arsenal star Dani Ceballos and all of a sudden, Madrid had a foothold.
Haaland showed his big-game tendencies, however. With 10 minutes remaining, he looked to have given City a vital first-leg advantage after scoring his second of the night from the penalty spot.
So often this season, however, City have pressed the self-destruction button and it happened again here.
First, Brahim Diaz equalised on 86 minutes before England star Jude Bellingham claimed the winner two minutes into stoppage time to leave the Citizens shellshocked once again.
Wayne Rooney stunned by something Manchester City did during Real Madrid defeat
City are now massively up against it. The team must travel to Madrid knowing that a win must be secured if they’re to stand any chance of reaching the next stage of a competition they won in 2023.
Rooney was covering the game for Amazon Prime last night as he takes another step into punditry. He was stunned by something that Manchester City did after going 2-1 up and he’s suggested they’ve blown a really big opportunity.
He said: “When you’re 2-1 up against Real Madrid with a game coming up at the Bernabeu sometimes you have to just say, ‘OK, let’s be sensible, let’s come back, let’s let Real Madrid have the ball in their half and defend’, you can get a breather, you can rest, you can shuffle.
“If I’m on that pitch as a player, if I’m on that pitch and If I’m Haaland for instance. I see Haaland running at the goalkeeper in straight lines and they’re passing it around him and then he has to walk back. I’d be like, ‘OK, why am I doing this?’, so I’d be coming back and I’d be saying to my teammates, ‘Right, we’re waiting, now we set traps for them here and then we might actually counter-attack Real Madrid’.”
Wayne Rooney record vs Real Madrid
There isn’t much in the game of football that Rooney hasn’t achieved. He might not have done it on the international stage but at club level, he’s a legend of English football.
However, it might be easy for Rooney to suggest what City and Haaland should have done last night but as he found out during his career, actually doing it is very difficult.
Rooney only came up against Real Madrid twice and never found himself on the winning team. He was part of a Manchester United team that lost 2-1 at Old Trafford and claimed an assist during a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu.
City perhaps could have adopted a different game plan at 2-1 up last night. However, Real Madrid simply find a way when it comes to the Champions League and now an uphill battle awaits Guardiola’s team in the Spanish capital.
