Real Madrid. Feckin' hell.
Tonight's Champions League semi-final always had the potential for drama. The tie was finely balanced at 4-3 after the first leg in England, with the crowd in the Santiago Bernabeu always certain to provide a ferocious atmosphere.
For much of the contest, it looked as though that would count for little. The home side had some half decent opportunities, although they never looked as though they would really threaten the City goal.
When Riyad Mahrez opened the scoring just after the 70th minute, it looked like the tie was over.
RIYAD MAHREZ!! 🔥
City have one foot in the #UCL final 👟 pic.twitter.com/imyASxPnyD— Watch the UCL on LiveScore 🇮🇪 (@LiveScoreIE) May 4, 2022
We should have known better than to count out this Real Madrid team. Having mounted numerous comebacks in this season's Champions League, more drama was always likely.
It took until the 90th minute to arrive, a stage in the game when the home side had failed to register a single shot on target. They would have two in the couple of minutes that would follow, with both of Rodrygo's efforts finding their way into the back of the net.
Game on.
You knew what was coming next. With his scoring touch having deserted him earlier in the game, Karim Benzema would then win and convert a penalty to send his side to the final in Paris.
Incredibly, Real Madrid lead this tie for the first time ⚪️
Who else, Karim Benzema 🎯 pic.twitter.com/kEsKed8AfV— Watch the UCL on LiveScore 🇮🇪 (@LiveScoreIE) May 4, 2022
Manchester City had a couple of opportunities to send the game to penalties, both of which were squandered.
It was to be Real Madrid's night, with the Spanish club setting up a rematch of the 2018 Champions League final against Liverpool on May 28th.
The question is, how the hell do they keep doing this?
Real Madrid are in a Champions League final, but you could make a very valid argument that they have been outplayed for the majority of all three of their knockout ties in this season's competition. PSG should have dispatched of them in the last 16, while Chelsea collapsed late on to allow them to advance in the quarter-final. It was a similar story tonight.
They're a team without any real discernible style of play, who look dodgy at the back, and are completely over-reliant on one player to get the goals for them. They're also 90 minutes away from lifting the Champions League trophy.
We've never seen anything like it.
Real Madrid could really be about to reach a Champions League final on the back of Karim Benzema and just pure vibes. You've go to respect it. #RMAMCI
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) May 4, 2022
Perhaps it is the god given right Real Madrid feel they have been given in this tournament. As 13-time winners, they see it as an insult when somebody else lifts that trophy.
They always feel like they are in with a shout in this competition, even when that shouldn't be the case.
Manchester City had this tie put to bed tonight, until all of a sudden they didn't. There was no logical reason as to why that should have been the case, except for the fact that their opponents were wearing all-white.
Logic doesn't apply to this Real Madrid team.
They will enter the final against Liverpool as underdogs, something that is understandable considering the form of Jurgen Klopp's men in recent months.
They will probably be outplayed, outfought, and outthought. Knowing Carlo Ancelotti's side, they will probably also win.
To paraphrase an iconic Giorgio Chiellini quote, that is the history of the Real Madrid.
SEE ALSO: People Could Not Believe Real Madrid's Outrageous City Comeback
