‘They looked SUPER-CONFIDENT!’ How Real Madrid advanced to the Champions League semifinals | ESPN FC 

To all the people saying Madrid did nothing and played behind the ball. You do realize this is a strength. Possession isn't everything. They don't rush it, they just patiently waiting for its opponent to make a mistake and then they strike. This isn't a weakness its a strength.

Bros possession isn’t everything. Defending is part of the game

I remember when Lucas Vazquez rolled the ball with his finger before taking a penalty against atletico in the ucl final and he decided to juggle the ball before taking a penalty against Man City it’s just pure confidence and mentality.

Do people know WHAT MADRID'S STATS are for this season? Madrid have only lost 2 games all season, they are still the only unbeaten team in the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE even after facing CITY

Every time camera showed Pep he was in panic while Ancelotti was calm whole game

It was great display of Defense by the architect and don carlo ancelotti the italian coach. Surprising but entertaining. Congrats Real Madrid

Overhyped Premier league humbled

Try to keep up with Man City’s pace is Suicide. Real Madrid do their best work which is adjusting style depends on the big team they’re playing against. That’s why Madrid don’t have fix playstyle

People are really stupid enough to understand that defending is also a major part of the game

Let me remind you that this RM team is still very young and they are about to get Mbappe and possibly Xabi Alonso in the future. I am actually at peace even if we don't go through to the final, knowing that Man City won't win UCL twice in a row. 😂

Real Madrid knocked out the best team money could assemble, Man City as usual looked unstoppable, hats off to the lads at RM to kick them out

Throughout the years we've known Madrid to easily adapt to how their opponents play and Take things from there. Imagine RMA as Stark and City as Thanos Tony didn't BEAT Thanos in Endgame, but outsmarted him. Thanos was just as overwhelming in Endgame but something was different this time. Possession doesn't get u goals, scoring goals gets u goals

Real Madrid presented a problem Manchester City couldn’t solve.

Defence wins you tittles, goals win you games.. Period

Defense Is Half Of The Game. Real Closed Off The Half Spaces, City Became Predictable. Don Carlo Masterclass. Real Started The Game Pretty Brave In The Buildup At The Beginning Of The Game, Once They Scored They Closed Shop.

Football heritage. Premier league humbled. Baldiola humbled, Lego head fraudteta humbled.

Maybe, just maybe you shouldn't underestimate your opponent. But what do I know...

If it was easy to park the bus against City as people claim..then why has City won the prem in the last 5 seasons in a row.

If real beat city, bayern and psg/dortmund- They deserve it

Thats why real madrid has 14 champions league and is the club with most history. Real Madrid know how to win 🏆. Regardless what you throw at it. They will always keep fighting, and that why fans love Real Madrid.

Haaland and KDB asking to be subbed even though city had the ball for most of the game just highlights how great of a defensive master class Madrid put on. Madrid did most of the running but it was city’s main men that ended up quitting due to tiredness.

That possession game doesn't always work and is very often boring.

Errr...the two best teams in the world got two draws in two games and the tie was decided by a penalty shootout, that's how RM " took down" MC., simple. If the favorite by the pundits fall guy Mou had setup RM in this counter attacking scheme for which they are perfectly suited we would have never heard the end of it 😊. This is the very style used by Mou in RM which destroyed Pep's Barca dominance in Spain and sent Pep in vacation for a year.

I don’t get why people think Real Madrid were going to play Man City with a high press and possession. That plays into Man City’s hands.

Not sure what game Gabi was watching. Vinicious was very key to Madrid's counter attacking. Also Lunin was class yesterday

Real parked their fooking bus, train, titanic, hyperloop... Think once what was real supposed to do? They don't have squad depth like city. Nacho, carvajal, mendy, cama played their best despite being injury prone. Lunin was literally the 3rd choice gk. At some time it seems like madrid was giving away possession just because they don't have the stamina. Parking wasn't a strategy, it was the only choice Meanwhile city have stones, kovacic, doku coming as subs. And since when did defending became a disgrace in football?

All Barca stream fans think that only the teams playing possession game deserve to win

Everyone had mancity as favourites, but they all forgot its real madrid and ucl is their competition.

Spanish club wins but English player on the thumbnail... German club wins but English player on the ESPN thumbnail... What an obnoxious fetish

Madrid only proved that, in order to beat city you need: To score 4 goals, Close the defense, resist to keep the advantage as much as possible, force penalties. It's not as simple as just "lest get the rest of the team in our side of the pitch.

I felt like Real knows every move of city. I hate allegri ball but in a competitions like this. It's not bad City possession is useful Give the ball to Doku or Graelish and cross. That's what happened for 80% Zero creativity Now Bayern vs Real is interesting since both managers are not obsessed with possession

City May have all the possession but if they can’t do nothing with that possession what’s the point ?

City suffered while loosing the game you can’t see another team winning city that way

Gab Fatcotti is grilling and burning right now. He is a known German hater. The fact that not one German team but 2 qualified to the semis is making him rage .

Everyone is praising Ancelloti. If it was Mourinho, the narrative would be different, of course: "he parked the bus." Good defending is also part of good football. Let's not forget this. If one is attacking, someone needs to be defending. I like to see good defending in football like Madrid did yesterday!

I am convinced most people in this comments section care more about what ESPN says about their team rather than their team actually winning

city lost because of walker's poor depending. no one is talking about what a bias

Gab with the MegaPowers WWE reference!!! That was late 80s, my childhood. Cool.

Real Madrid looked like when a storm is here and one just tries to survive lol hahaha

Was waiting to see Jules after his Beloved PSG triumphed 😆

Vini had an amazing game

Love the wrestling reference haha

Attack wins games.... defence wins you tittles

Gab just got humbled and found out but won’t ever admit it.

Carragher back in hiding in his cave😂

Hulk Hogan being Real Madrid is somehow perfect.

People are talking about Premier league. But the frequency of matches is also an issue.

Fraudiola always has a crying face when he loses in CL😂.Even yesterday he had a funny face when talking with ancelotti

Congratulations to oilchester city on we dominated madrid back to back trophy . when is the prade happening for that

Real Madrid's and more precisely Ancelotti's ability to change their game according to both their own team, and the opponent is the major key everyone is looking for. Ronaldo's Real Madrid was offensive and scary; Benzema's Real Madrid was less offensive and scary but they adjusted; and this is Real Madrid without a clear leader/superpower, but working like one machine to do exactly what they need to do. All that being said, penalties are a lottery, so it could've gone either way.

Juls wearing a Ecuador jersey I seee you my boy 💪🏽🔥🔥🔥 Viva Ecuador HP 🔥🔥

This is why Julien is a goat man, he understands the game nicely. He could see that this was our game plan from the beginning, to press high and score early and then just maintain that advantage. Jude was used the same way Erling was and it was to occupy the cb’s and midfielders and distract them and put pressure on them. This was a Carlo master class imo

Hala Madrid I am proud to be a Madrid fan😊😊 we go ahead always

Anchelotti has been cooking something all this season, I now know that it was a defeat he cooked and served in a cold plate to pep guardiola.

One time in front the media Pep said " I am the boss..." but forgot that players are the main actors playing for the game.Pep should learn the lesson talk about players with respect. I think Real Madrid treat players much better than Man city.

Why is Gabi so obsessed with the way people look 😂

Man City learnt from Madrid. As a Madrid fan, we better be worried if they change their playstyle cos they are our greatest threat now

Reminded me of when the ultimate warrior beat hulk hogan

Love a wwe reference in unexpected places.

Never thought I’d see Juls wear an Ecuador jersey!!! Amazing vibes for representing the homeland 💪🏽🇪🇨

Nice of Gab to mention wwe

I cant wait to see these two clubs go at it again next year. CTID.

There is attack, mid field and defence in football. A team can adopt one of these or a mixture of these to varying degrees as their chosen style for a match. Real Madrid in this game chose to play defence as their main focus while city chose attack as their main focus. However the pundits believe that since Madrid didn't choose attack, they didn't dominate the game. Guardiola on the other hand wants us to believe that because he chose attack and his team underperformed in their execution of this strategy, they are the ones who deserve to go through, not Madrid who satisfactorily executed their strategy and dominated the game defensively. Rodri however believes only one team played at the Etihad. These guys need to go and do some thinking.

why can't the whole podcast have video as well? I enjoy it more this way

Whats funny is that Madrid went toe to toe for City in the 1st leg. Madrid could compete for the ball if they wanted to. Carlo clearly meant to frustrate City in that 2nd leg. It was a tactical masterclass but its not pretty and possession based so he wont get the credit. Pep met his match , and thats it

Unlucky is when Darwin Nunez hits post multiple times in a game Unlucky is when you manage to beat the goalkeeper but a player kicks the ball out after it has crossed the line but referee doesn't give a goal Unlucky is when you're guaranteed to score but opponent commits a foul and u don't even get a penalty And Madrid wasn'tlucky This win was a strategy working almost perfectly

We only play with one ball, since City were always in possession then it's only logical to defend... I wonder why this is looked at as a bad thing 🤔

Where is Steve?

A lot have been said on the brilliance of Madrid defense tactics. I wonder if the same will be said if the shootout went the other way around..or will it be why Madrid defended like they are still holding a lead? I personally feels that Madrid has got enough in them to go head on with City even playing away but I guess they themselves have conceded that City is better than them and will take a shootout even before kickoff.

that is why RM is the team of big moments major games and pressure ......

It wouldnt make sense to go to city and play fully open football. I love madrid and that was the best possible tactic. Very smart football.

The game was good. City played better with 33 shots, 9 on target and only one goal. They need to improve on penalties, they had the advantage after Modric missed and blew it.

Im no City fan but you got to admit Madrid have the luck of the Gods in the champions league. They literally went to City who are still the best team in the world in a lot of peoples eyes and played like relegation threatened teams in the premier league team do with a low block and countering. It worked for them so fair play.

No away goal rules is killing the game.

People stop the 🧢🧢🧢🧢🧢. Madrid changed their game plan after they scored first . If you watch the first ,10 mintes of the game: Madrid was dominating possession and the first shot of the game was Camavingha shooting from 25 yards out ..

man city lost why are we still talking about them 😂

Just won on penalties.... Real holded them of until the end.. And got fortunate... City was easily the better overall, But real's counter attacks are terrifying...

To all the people panning the way Madrid played. Take yourself out of your arm chair and put yourself in nacho or Carvajal’s shoes. Do not underestimate how hard Madrid had to work for that playing 50 in game minutes at 1-1 knowing one mistake and there out. Defending is a part of our game, it can sometimes be an art form. City average 3 a season at the Etihad this season and Madrid only gave them 1 then beat them on pens. Needs to be respected more how and what Madrid have done there. (Sorry Rodri not every team is going to press you with a high line and let you counter them and win 4-0.)

Pep obsession for ball possession is what makes him great and his greatest weakness. He had to mix it up. Pep’s team I believe can get possession especially with that bench he has. He had to give Madrid the ball once he realized Madrid’s game plan. Especially with doku in there, you need space. Play defense for a bit open the field especially for doku and haaland who can’t create in tight spots. Long shots weren’t going to do it either Madrid blocked those path excellent. Pep’s philosophy of the best defense is having the ball is great, but against top teams like Madrid you got to have flexibility and mix it up. Because just swinging the ball side to side and back is the same as not having the ball. Especially after the tie sit defend for a bit and counter. They are capable of that but you have to let Madrid play for a bit to capitalize on their mistakes. Then go for the death ball hogging strategy which they are also capable of.

Football is all about having a plan and executing that plan to get a result

Love when Real Madrid shuts Gab up

The answer to the Foden question is sell bernardo Silva. Not because he's bad, or he's to blame but if you want Foden to be that guy they play with the two CAMs in De Bruyne and Foden and call it a day. I also think they're missing a LW to be truly potent. Grelish and Doku aren't the answer

Inter outplayed City in the final and Lost.. that's the sport

To all the people saying "all real did was defend". Attack wins you games, Defense wins you titles so sorry if our Defense was too hard to break for the "best team" in the world 😂

Man city literally did nothin, all they did was play the wings, cross in the ball and hope halaand attacks it, over time real madrid was comfortable with them doing that because it ended up with the same result, stats are misleading.

If madrid was great display about defence what about city other than Rodrigo goal Madrid couldnt even firce save from Ederson, just 2 shot in target, it was just not city day in front of goal thats it, they madrid look like luton town pinned in their own box

Well to be fair madrid biggest strength is there counter attack.

CR 7 best in the world

Both teams were absolutely the last two teams in the world that you want to see. But come on Man city completely bossed Real Madrid and it really came down to flat out luck that they didn't win . Real Madrid couldn't get the ball out of their half end, Man city has 16 corners won and almost 70% of ball. There is nothing to criticize Man city about and those that do are either biased or ignorant about the game of Football. That said I'm glad my team, Real Madrid won. I'm just not stupid enough to believe that we were the better team that night. We were just the luckiest.

REMONTADA REAL!

Defense wins you championships. LETS GO MADRID!

They are using stats .. Ball on target ? If Man City didn’t block all those few shots Madrid had . It would have been a goal .. Madrid did have like 5 chances .. you guys need to pay attention and also defending is part of football .. that was a masterclass by Madrid and I enjoyed it !

a coach sets up a team with an idea of their own strengths & the opposition and weather they are home or away... then as the game unfolds the coach tweaks it accordingly ... then its up to players mental toughness & making decisions ... Real Madrid more then matched it with City at home & did what was necessary to progress .. Real conceded 4 at home last season to City & learnt something and acted on it City were just playing side to side passes trying to break down Real Madrid but struggled .. over 30 attempts only 8 on target & some of those floating to Lunin. City goal was a miss kick from Rudiger otherwise Real would of won 0-1 after opening up City like they were a div 2 team

Real Madrid have Rodrygo, Man City have Grealish that's the difference.

Premier league will continue to be humbled as long as they fix they stop favouring teams such as Liverpool city Arsenal and united. They should start favouring Chelsea as it is the only club from England who have the charisma and pedigree in Europe ( records suggest 2 UCL and 2 UEL in last 12 years)

I dont think they were happy to defend deep, city just push teams back, they have superhuman fitness

So Madrid Had Zero Chance uhhh 🤔🤔🤔🤔😂😂😂😂😂

Etihad frozen like Elsa yesterday

Juls trying to hide is excitement about PSG having their best chance ever now.

City did many things. Attacked and defended, Madrid only defended with no perfection, this is their game plan, they much we respect, but city remains better team