Real Madrid pulled off an unbelievable turnaround to deny Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City their second straight Champions League final.
Substitute Rodrygo scored twice late on to send the tie into extra-time before Karim Benzema’s penalty made it 6-5 to Real Madrid on aggregate.
Riyad Mahrez had put Man City on course for a final against Liverpool. He scored in the 73rd minute to make it 5-3 on aggregate for the English side.
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Yet, just as they had failed to press home their advantage in last week’s classic first encounter at the Etihad Stadium, Guardiola’s side again failed to keep tight at the back, losing 3-1 on the night.
Real Madrid, after staging rousing comebacks against Paris St Germain and Chelsea in the previous two rounds, battled back to level the tie with their first two on-target efforts.
With Man City reeling, they were caught out again as Ruben Dias was adjudged to have felled Benzema and the prolific Frenchman finished from the spot.
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City managed to regroup but Thibaut Courtois produced a fine save to deny Phil Foden and Fernandinho put the rebound agonisingly wide.
The result was another shattering Champions League blow for Guardiola and prolongs City’s long wait for European glory.
They were not at their best in a ferocious Bernabeu atmosphere but looked to have done enough to see through the job.
They were boosted by the return of fit-again Kyle Walker and the right-back did a fine job in restricting the dangerous Vinicius Junior.
Yet Real needed to force the pace and they went close after just four minutes when Benzema headed over from a Dani Carvajal cross.
The tension was evident and tempers soon flared with Aymeric Laporte and Luka Modric both booked after clashing during a stoppage in play.
Benzema and Vinicius then both…
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