Antonio Rüdiger had been booed throughout because the Manchester City support had not forgotten what he did as a Chelsea player to Kevin De Bruyne in the 2021 Champions League final; the forearm smash that put their midfielder out of the game, which they would lose.
Rüdiger was a central figure here and, with his Real Madrid team leading through Rodrygo’s early goal, it was his fluffed clearance that played a part in De Bruyne’s 76th-minute equaliser, the goal that looked set to even the score on more than one level. Rüdiger would err again at the end of the first period of extra time, tiptoeing into an excellent position to the left of goal only to slice wide.
And so it was practically perfect in narrative terms when, at the end of a draining penalty shootout, it was Rüdiger that strode forward to address the kick to win it for Madrid, the one to set up a mouthwatering semi-final against Bayern Munich.
Ederson had just been charged with the kick to keep City in it, after his team had thrown away a position of ascendancy in the shootout. The goalkeeper scored. He had stepped forward partly because Pep Guardiola had substituted De Bruyne and Erling Haaland.
Now Ederson had to deny Rüdiger. The tension was close to unbearable but Rüdiger sliced through it, driving into the bottom corner and it was the prompt for him to celebrate wildly, running to the other end of the stadium where the Madrid supporters were housed. And for City’s dream of a successful Champions League defence to die, along with that of an outlandish double-treble; for the regrets to bubble furiously.
They took in what happened after Ederson had saved Madrid’s first penalty from the substitute, Luka Modric. It was Bernardo Silva who endured the horror moment, chipping straight up the middle in the hope that the Madrid goalkeeper, Andriy Lunin, would move. He did not. The other City player to miss was another substitute, Mateo Kovacic, his kick too close to Lunin.
But what of the 120 minutes? Because if Madrid had looked so slick in the first half of normal time, so dangerous on the break, it was City that dominated thereafter. With 72 minutes on the clock, an increasingly fervent home support had announced who they were and promised to fight until the end. They did so, their hero emerging – as so often – in the shape of De Bruyne.
The City playmaker always seems to score against Madrid and his goal here followed a surge and a cross from the substitute Jérémy Doku, who made a real difference. When Rüdiger got his feet into a tangle, De Bruyne lashed the ball high into the net.
City had been getting closer. De Bruyne had bent a corner against the outside of the near post while Jack Grealish had worked Lunin. Now they had what they wanted and how close they came to settling matters before the end of normal time. De Bruyne forced Lunin to tip over a curling shot before the big chance on 82 minutes after more fine work by Doku and a Manuel Akanji cut-back. Incredibly, De Bruyne shot high. That will be what De Bruyne dwells on in the days ahead.
Madrid had looked the part in the first half, so polished on the ball and they had come to believe that they were destined to win at the Etihad Stadium which so few teams have done in recent seasons. City were unbeaten here in 17 months; they had not lost a Champions League tie on their own turf since 2018.
Madrid had begun with a strut, a few tweaks on the tactical front from Carlo Ancelotti, too, his formation more 4-2-3-1 than the expected 4-3-1-2, Federico Valverde and Rodrygo starting as conventional wingers.
Jude Bellingham still had the No 10 role, with license to roam where he wanted and it was him that fired the move for the breakthrough. Dani Carvajal had punted a high ball forward but how Bellingham, breaking from inside his own half, brought it down to get Madrid moving.
Bellingham found Valverde and he slid the killer pass up the inside right channel for Vinícius Júnior, who had timed his run in behind the City defence. Vinícius’s low cross was on the money, just out of the reach of the stretching Kyle Walker, and Rodrygo scored at the second attempt.
City had the chances to equalise before the end of the first 45 minutes, even though Madrid oozed menace on the counter. It was impossible to ignore the presence of Bellingham, the threat of Vinícius.
Haaland headed one chance high and looped another one against the crossbar on the second phase of a move. Silva could not react in time to finish the rebound. De Bruyne extended Lunin and there was the lovely Haaland pass that got Grealish away up the inside left, Rüdiger making an important block.
City stepped higher at the start of the second half of normal time, pressing harder on to the front foot and it was certainly unusual to see Madrid play the role of low block spoilers.
Grealish warmed Lunin’s palms with a sweetly struck volley, Haaland almost pressured Nacho into a disastrous back pass and Phil Foden would flicker. It was not enough. Rüdiger would have the last word and how he enjoyed it.
