Madrid – And here we are again, wondering if Real Madrid can summon energy and conjure magic one last time. Carlo Ancelotti’s side looked undefeated and amazing even against PSG. That was two months ago. He looked defeated and exhausted against Chelsea. That was four weeks ago. still stands. In the Champions League, at least, Real Madrid has the atmosphere of a team that has forgotten how to lose.
There is an element of self-fulfilling prophecy about Real Madrid in this competition. He wins because that’s what he does. It is filled with a sense of purpose, with absolute faith, just by hearing it that musicas soon as he glimpses this cup.
This, and only that, is what will give Manchester City a little pause. Last week’s 4-3 victory in Al Ittihad Pep Guardiola and his players left double sensations. It was clear, from the start, that the Premier League champions were smoother, softer and more compact than Real Madrid, that he played a more sophisticated and sophisticated form of football, that he had a clearer vision of what he was, and what? you want to be. It was an evening that, in this light, showed that City is now where it spent a decade trying to go.
However, as the staff assembled the next morning, there was little regret, surprise, and general confusion that the semi-final match was still in the balance, a feeling that Real Madrid were no ordinary opponent, one that ultimately bows out to City. Clear superiority, but this keeps on showing, unwilling to wither, even if he knows how. This is the effect of the spell Real Madrid can cast: a vague sense of uneasiness, a nagging feeling in the pit of the stomach that these things only end in one direction. Manchester City have the opportunity and capacity to expose this as a fallacy tonight. But then others tried and failed, and here we are again.