Champions League: Semi-final quality actually lived up to the hype

THERE are a few things wrong with the Champions League. Notably, the group stages can be a boring procession and could do with an overhaul. But Europe’s premier club competition does come into its own once it reaches the knockout stages. And it really shows its class once we are in the semi-finals.

This was evident in the midweek semi-final on Tuesday when Man City were given the difficult task of getting a result at the Bernabeu. One must ire the quality of the effort exhibited by both sides and in particular to Man City for getting a very creditable draw in the heart of the 14-times champions’ den.

Two sides that contain the likes of Karim Benzema and Erling Haaland of course garner publicity for their attacking qualities, but Tuesday night was an accomplishment across all the departments, and tactics for both teams.

On another night, and with different goalies, this match may well have been a 4-4 affair. But both Thibaut Courtois for Real and Ederson for Man City had the type of match between the sticks not seen since the days of Hot Shot Hamish’s antagonists.

Special goals against special goalies

Both keepers had a busy night but looked confident handling whatever came their way. It plays into the next point, that it then required exceptional finishes from Vinicius Junior and Kevin De Bruyne to get the better of both keepers.

Junior shone brightest in a game that had been billed as a battle between himself and Haaland. City were under pressure whenever he was on the ball and his screamer of a shot for the opening goal beyond the fingertips of a diving Ederson was a spectacle worthy enough of the evening’s events. Junior is a player that demands a viewer’s attention and who knows how high the career star of this 22-year-old is destined to rise?

A match of this quality deserved an equaliser to match, and De Bruyne’s exquisite outside of the boot daisy-cutter in the second half was a sublime connection with the ball, steering it beyond Courtois despite the Belgian keeper seeing it from some distance out.

Midfield generals

The midfield for both side dictated a half each, Man City in the first half and Real in the second. Nevertheless, both sides scored against the run of play in either half.

John Stones had a very strong first half and was involved in a lot of City's best attacks at the beginning of the game. Linking well with Ilkay Gundogan and De Bruyne in midfield as the trio put the sort of pressure on Real you rarely see at the Bernabeu.

Countering that, the old guard of Luka Modric and Tony Kroos struggled at first but grew into the game and the Corinthian midfield maestro produced a moment of class to unlock Eduardo Camavinga from deep in the Real Madrid half for Vinicus' goal.

Best defence

That neither Haaland or Benzema scored on an evening of excellent ing and dominant possession is a credit to maybe the real men of the match, as David Alaba for Real and Ruben Dias for City had stellar nights respectively in defence, putting in match-saving tackles to deny what looked like certain goals against their teams.

Alaba was composed under pressure throughout, and his best moment was undoubtedly when he kept out Haaland with a big sliding block in the box when City were in their ascendancy.

Dias also enacted a crucial block to stop Benzema from tapping in at the back post after Vinicius' drilled a cross in front of the City goal in the first half.

That such quality was achieved on a stuffy humid night of action goes down to the quality players and of the coaches on the side-line. Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola are peculiar among coaches for constructing multiple successful teams across many leagues. But may be about to witness the most impressive iterations of their creative team-building with their current sides.

It is easy to dislike Man City’s arrogance on the path to oil-money bought success or Real’s unlikeable historic links and unfair advantage with city bailouts from Madrid itself. But there can be no denying the playing-quality of these players and the excitement they bring to the game at this crucial part of the season.