Fortress Etihad
Forget Anfield and Old Trafford. Forget the Bernabeu and the Nou Camp. Ignore the Yellow Wall and the San Siro, the ultras of PSG and Bayern and the madness of Naples. Is there a more imposing stadium to play at than facing Manchester City at the Etihad these days? The stats would suggest not.
This is 26 Champions League games unbeaten here for Pep Guardiola's side, 24 of them won. The two draws? Dead rubbers against Sporting and Shakhtar. If there's something on it for City in Europe and they've got home comforts, then they're going to win.
In that time City have beaten Atalanta when they were the darlings of Europe, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain twice and now Real Madrid on three occasions. Look at this season's results in the knockout stage for the scale of the domination. RB Leipzig were beaten 7-0, Bayern 3-0 and now Real 4-0.
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No other major European stadium comes close for this level of security for a home team. City have grown into their surroundings here. As Jack Grealish said after the draw in Madrid: "At the Etihad, we feel unstoppable."
The supporters are playing their part as well. Guardiola has started to see them deliver on the big occasions especially and the atmosphere on Wednesday was magnificent.
There were some concerns that City's ticketing policy for the game was risking affecting the atmosphere, that by allowing people who hadn't clocked up the loyalty to buy tickets they were inviting day trippers or even Real fans to flock in.
There were plenty of reports of visiting fans trying to get in the home end and some succeeding with their tickets, but then it was hard to tell the scale of that given the utter domination of City.
As for affecting the atmosphere? Not a chance. As soon as City took control of this game the place was alive. The roar every time City came forward was electric and the rendition of 'We're not really here' just after the second goal sounded like the entire stadium was joining in.
Brilliant Bernardo
For 10 minutes at the Etihad Bernardo Silva looked over-eager. He committed three fairly rash fouls early on and in a period of City dominance, it allowed Real Madrid to reset and slow the game down.
But the man with the ability to slow even the most intense games down didn't take long to find his own rhythm. City had dominated for 22 minutes but were already finding Thibaut Courtois an immovable object in the Real goal. That could have preyed on minds until Bernardo collected Kevin De Bruyne's brilliant pass and sold the goalkeeper with his eyes. Courtois went one way, the ball the other and City had lift-off.
His second goal was even better. When Courtois saved Ilkay Gundogan's shot the ball looped quickly to Bernardo. With players back on the line he looped an inch-perfect header into the corner. The 5ft 8ins winger with no discernible turn of pace has now scored headers against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and turned Alphonso Davies and Eduardo Camavinga inside out.
The focus of magnificent midfielders who could move on this summer has been on Gundogan recently, but it wouldn't be summer in Manchester without speculation about Bernardo. It's an open secret who would entertain a new challenge.
But Barcelona are unlikely to be able to afford the kind of package that would convince City to do business, even given Guardiola's open policy of letting players look elsewhere if it's what they really want. There's certainly no concerns about Bernardo ever having enough of this challenge. He is continuing to lift his game for the biggest occasions and he's a player Guardiola is desperate not to have to do without.
Fast starts
City have made a habit of roaring out the blocks in the big games at the Etihad this season. This was no exception, in fact it might have been the most dominant start they've made to a home game this season.
The only surprise was that it took them until midway through the first half to get the goal they deserved. Rodri dragged a shot just wide inside the first 10 minutes. Erling Haaland went around Thibaut Courtois but ran out of room, then planted a header from barely four yards out straight at the giant goalkeeper. If that was simple enough for Courtois, his save to deny Haaland again a few minutes later was out of this world.
The scale of City's domination was remarkable, however. They went back to Ederson inside the first 40 seconds but he was then a spectator for a significant length of time.
The goal looked a matter of time and when Bernardo did finally beat Courtois it forced Real into a huddle, while Vinicius engaged Carlo Ancelotti in dialogue on the touchline.
Guardiola's body language
Even when City couldn't find the finish in the early stages, when Kyle Walker and Stones blasted over the bar from distance, Guardiola kept on applauding. We've seen his nerves betray him at times in big games recently, but this was as sanguine and relaxed as he's looked when the stakes are this high.
He spent most of the first half applauding the effort of his team and urging them to keep going. There was no crouching down, no sitting on a bucket, no leaping around and calling players over, just the enthusiasm of a man watching his team tear it up on the biggest stage.
Guardiola spoke confidently about the readiness of his team on Tuesday and the sense that they were in a good moment. This was clearly what he meant.
Walker vs Vinicius
This battle wouldn't have been out of place on the start line of the 100m at the Olympics. Walker gave it top billing with his comments about facing Vinicus the day before the game and it was a sight to behold at times.
If anyone was in any doubt about the ability of the 32-year-old to last the pace with the Brazilian then they were dispelled once and for all just after the half-hour mark. Real had barely threatened but then suddenly Vinicius was in down the left and cutting in towards Ederson's goal.
Not many players catch him in that situation but Walker did just that, speeding back to get a foot in at a point when the winger was lining up his shot. It brought a roar from the Etihad almost as loud as Bernardo's goal.
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