Yaya Toure’s UEFA Champions League testimonial match went off without a hitch on Wednesday, the Manchester City midfielder ponderously strolling around the Bernabéu pitch and gently reminding his teammates not to forget his going away cake.
Like Ernest Hemingway’s aging Cuban fisherman Santiago, it almost certainly would've taken 85 days of play before Toure could've netted a goal against Real Madrid.
After a largely drama-free edition of the Champions League semi-finals, we get an already drama-filled Madrid Derby Champions League final. This will be fun.
It almost didn't happen, though, as the second leg of Manchester City vs. Real Madrid was nearly as much of a snoozer as the first leg. Gareth Bale supplied one piece of entertainment when his shot/cross/thing hit Fernando's leg and then went past Joe Hart and into the net.
On the score sheet, it will go down as Fernando's own goal due to deflection, but it was Gareth Bale's run and chip that got the scoring going in the last match of the Champions League semi finals. Real Madrid scored in the 20th minute and held on to defeat Manchester City 1 - 0 to advance to the Champions League final. Both teams traded chances as Bale hit the woodwork and Aguero had a shot just inches over the bar.
The city will be divided as Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid will face off in Milan on May 28th.
In the Champions League quarterfinals, Real Madrid were in a dire situation, having lost the first leg at Wolfsburg. A Cristiano Ronaldo hat trick later, they were in the semifinals.
It's not quite so dire this time for Madrid, having drawn the semi-final first leg 0-0 in Manchester, but they basically need to win to advance.
Good news for Real Madrid fans: Cristiano Ronaldo is back in training. The club announced their superstar Portuguese winger completed a training session Monday, leaving the door open for the Ballon d'Or runner-up to take the pitch in the Champions League later this week.
Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo injury setback means the Portuguese forward faces a race against time in his battle for fitness. The AS is reporting that Cristiano Ronaldo will undergo a round of stem cell treatments in order to try and return for the second leg of Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Manchester City next Wednesday.
They say that people die three years after they retire, that the loss of something meaningful to do ruins their desire to live. This idea of life as a conscious decision might seem a little too dramatic to be real, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s rejuvenation over the past month leads to the contrary. The possibility of success this year has given Ronaldo a new lease on life.
Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo had the dream night they were hoping for in Estadio Santiago Bernabéu Tuesday, but the comeback against Wolfsburg iwas even more special than first thought.
Last time the Merengues were able to turn the score in their favor from a similar situation was with Zinedine Zidane on the field. The season was 2001/02 and, in they end, they defeated Leverkusen in the Champions League final with an unforgettable goal from now-manager Zizou.
Zinedine Zidane'sReal Madrid squad just advanced in the Champions League after it looked like all was lost, so he can maybe be forgiven if he said some outlandish sh** following the game.
From ESPNFC:
Zinedine Zidane said he was keeping a level head after Real Madrid rallied to defeat Wolfsburg in the Champions League, something he also claimed -- a little disingenuously -- to have done as a player.
A crunch meeting between French national team manager Didier Deschamps and the president of the French Federation, Noel Le Graet, has yielded the decision to omit striker Karim Benzema from selection for the French squad at Euro 2016.