Rodrygo leads Miraculous Madrid to UEFA Champions League Final in Paris
Rodrygo’s brace and Benzema’s spot kick guided Real Madrid to the UEFA Champions League final in Paris to face Liverpool after defeating Manchester City 3-1 at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
Rodrygo struck twice on the 90th minute and 91st minute of added time in normal time before Karim Benzema’s spot kick sealed the win in extra time.
Los Blancos had never overturned a first leg loss to reach the final before and this was their time to do the seemingly impossible to possible. Being crowned La Liga Champions over the weekend they had immense pressure to go and win the tie in the second leg.
Cityzens knew the task ahead was mighty facing a club that has won the title 13 times with them having none. Pep needed to come with something special and out of this world to reach the final. They[City] started the half on the strongest foot as they tested Thibaut Courtois couple of times with Bernado Silva close to opening the score. It was a nil-nil first half with two yellow cards brandished for Aymeric Laporte and Luka Modric. City was on top at half time.
The home team had failed to register a shot on target in the first half. City shifted gears as Oleksandr Zinchenko came in to replace the injured Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan for Kevin de Bruyne. For Madrid Rodrygo came in for Toni Kroos. It was not long before the deadlock was broken by the visitors. A brilliant move built from the back by City found Benard Silva in space in the middle of the park who assisted the ball to Riyad Mahrez to fire and score at Courtois’s near post to make it 1- 0 with 18 minutes to play.
City almost had the final within their grasp only to be denied by Rodrygo’s effort on goal on the 90th minute to make it 1-1. A minute later, Rodrygo bailed out Los Blancos with his second, a header from Dani Carvajal’s brilliant cross to make it 2-1 and tie the aggregate at 5 apiece. It was a night mare for Pep Guardiola’s team who made terrible errors at the death and were punished.
Extra time followed and Madrid continued their push for the winner. Rodrygo found Benzema in the box before he was tripped by Ruben Dias. Having dispatched a panenka in the first leg, Benzema took no risks as he slotted it past Ederson for Madrid’s third to make it 3-1 and win the match on aggregate 6-5.
It was a sensational comeback for Carlo Ancelotti’s men who face off Liverpool in Paris as they meet once again in the final just as in 2018.