Real Madrid-Manchester City: City's strokes of genius, Haaland's failure... the hits and the flops

TOPS

For once, we won't remember City's spectacular passing circuits. Caricatured as possible for an hour, the European champion escaped thanks to three strokes of genius from afar during his legendary draw against Real Madrid (3-3). Starting with that of Bernardo Silva, who surprised everyone from the start (2nd). But how can we forget the consecutive strikes from Foden (66th) then Gvardiol (71st), the latter even less customary in fact. Enough to maintain the legend of a team that has become a scarecrow of the C1.

Double heroic scorer two years ago, Rodrygo found the light of the shock against City by igniting the duel, scoring the second goal for Real to turn everything around (14th), as he did during the semi-final of the epic of 2022. Full of composure and slightly happy to deceive Akanji and Ortega, the Brazilian came close to the double twice (30th, 33rd) but will have shone with his clairvoyance this Tuesday evening, where we expected him less than a Vinicius or Bellingham, otherwise more exposed in recent months.

Always more impressive with Real Madrid, Camavinga confirmed his rise to power as a sentinel. Beyond his equalizing goal, whose sense of initiative betrays that of a player with great confidence (12th), the French international shone in the midfield. Exceptional in impact, even if sometimes at the limit, the former Rennais also amazed with his sharp climbs. A cocktail of passion and personality which now make him essential at Real.

FLOPS

Usually so sovereign in defense, Ruben Dias, citizen captain of the evening, displayed a lot of excitement after Camavinga's equalizing goal, whose shot he unfortunately deflected. Often caught by the opponent's liveliness, the Portuguese was not sufficiently helped by his partner Manuel Akanji, who for his part deflected the ball towards Rodrygo's goal. Warned for a bad move on Vinicius (38th), the Swiss, like Dias, displayed a lot of nervousness.

A lost face-to-face with Lunin (7th) then nothing, or almost nothing. Back on the scorers' sheet on Saturday after a month of drought, Haaland fell back into his recent failings, which were also widely commented on across the Channel. Lonely, beaten in the impact by the Tchouaméni-Rüdiger hinge, the Norwegian seemed disconnected from his partners (20 balls hit). In another register, Bellingham also disappointed as it was so expected. Apart from a small festival in the area (53rd), the British phenomenon has often favored the individual solution to the detriment of collective logic.

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