An early Champions League final between Real Madrid and the Citizens. Why expect a different match?

Elite football is at its peak right now. We are in the final stages of the Champions League, with only the best teams left. Real Madrid and Manchester City put on a fantastic show in the first leg, what will it be like in the return leg?

4 goals in the away net, 3 in the home net. A beautiful solo action by Vinícius, a goal by Bernardo Silva or a “panenka” by Karim Benzema. The first match offered some breathtaking moments that will be talked about for days.

But a week has passed and we’re in the rematch. From rainy Manchester, we move to sunny Madrid, where Real Madrid reign supreme. The latter celebrated the Spanish title last weekend and bonded even more with the fans as they celebrated in the town square. The Merengues are now oozing team spirit and unity throughout the club and the city.

And that’s one of the reasons why we can expect a different game to the one we saw a week ago. It’s not that we’ll see boring defensive tactics instead of a parade of offense, but rather the roles might be reversed a bit.

Manchester City clearly had the upper hand in the first leg. If they converted all their chances, they could have easily scored 8 goals. Real Madrid deliberately started in a lower block and waited for breakthrough opportunities. With a bit of luck, they managed to take a good result away from the Etihad Stadium.

But in the rematch, a different Real Madrid awaits. Bolder, more aggressive and more active. Several leading Spanish journalists have reported that Carlo Ancelotti has ordered the team to press high and aggressively from the first second, while at the same time he wants to take advantage of the strength of the Santiago Bernabéu, which can create a wild atmosphere.

In the same way, for example, Real flew at PSG and pinned their opponents to the penalty area for the first 15 minutes, but no goal was scored.

The magic of the Bernabéu

But let’s go back to the Santiago Bernabéu. It is the hallowed ground that is the home side’s great strength. It may not be the biggest in terms of capacity, but it is certainly one of the most intimidating in Europe. It simply has a certain magic that makes visiting opponents a little harder to play here than in other stadiums.

What’s more, the Bernabéu has already seen a few European turnarounds. It started in the last century, pioneered by the heartthrob Juanito. After losing 0:2 to Inter in the 1985/86 semi-final, he declared.

Even this season, Los Blancos are relying on the magic of their stadium. PSG were already 2-0 up on aggregate, only for a vibrant Bernabéu to push Real’s turnaround to 3-2. Chelsea even led as early as 3: 0 in Madrid’s Chamartín district, but once again the fans at the Bernabéu arranged for a turnaround and progression.

A defensive Manchester City

Moreover, remember the game played a few weeks back at the Wanda Metropolitano. Manchester City clearly outplayed Atlético Madrid at home and didn’t allow them to take a single shot. In the rematch, however, the roles were completely reversed and the Citizens relied on a stiff defensive line at times.

This is also to be expected in today’s rematch. Not that Guardiola will resort to the proverbial “bus”, but there will be times when Ederson and co. will sweat a lot.

In the first leg, Real scored from virtually everything they created. Now, however, they can be expected to create many more chances, which means more pressure on a Citizens defence that is also not flawless.

Plus, City are constantly trying to rely on risky passing, which Karim Benzema is already lurking. So without a doubt, we are in for an extremely interesting game today, which will surely be an advertisement for football once again.

Source: UEFA