Manchester City had 60% of the ball. They had 16 shots to Real Madrid’s 11. They won on xG, taking a consensus of various algorithms, about 3.1 to 1.6. And yet they will go to the Bernabéu next week leading only 4-3 and, probably, with a grim sense of a familiar history being played out.
Madrid have won four Champions Leagues in the past decade. They have rarely, if ever, been the best side in the world in that period. In Cristiano Ronaldo’s nine years at the club, they won only two La Liga titles. They couldn’t produce consistently enough to dominate the league and yet, somehow, in the Champions League, in what had always been their tournament, they got results.
