Lescott: 'Real rely too much on history'

Former Man City centre-back Joleon Lescott believes Real's arrogant start to the game caused them to lose 0-4 to Man City in the Champions League semi-finals.

"Tonight you saw a team playing for their first Champions League against a team that was very reliant on history," Lescott told BT Sport about the match at the Etihad on May 17. "Man City took their chances in a very impressive way."

The first leg of the match last week ended in a 1-1 draw. But Man City completely dominated the return leg. The English team scored four goals, had 61% possession and had 14 shots, nearly three times as many as Real. Real suffered their worst defeat in European competition since 2009.

Real players were disappointed after the second goal in the match against Man City on the evening of May 17. Photo: AS

Former Man Utd defender Rio Ferdinand compared Real to rabbits looking at car headlights, as if they didn't understand anything about the game. He noted that Real inherently has a long history and a squad of world-class players.

"It was a crushing defeat," Ferdinand commented. "Man City were masterclass. They dominated from the start and took the game away from Real."

If it weren't for Thibaut Courtois, Real could have lost early. The Belgian goalkeeper saved two close-range headers from Erling Haaland. In the second half, Courtois continued to deny the striker leading the race for the European Golden Shoe.

But Courtois could not save Real from defeat. The visitors' defense collapsed as Man City passed the ball to their satellites around Haaland. In the 23rd minute, Bernardo Silva opened the scoring with a shot into the near corner. In the 37th minute, after Ilkay Gundogan's rebound, the Portuguese midfielder shone again with a header into the top corner.

Guardiola happy with successful revenge against Real

Real could not turn the situation around, despite bringing in Rudiger and Asensio. Man City continued to hold the ball and attack more effectively. In the 76th minute, Akanji's header hit Eder Militao and changed direction to make it 3-0. And when the second half had just started, Julian Alvarez finished one-on-one with Courtois to seal the 4-0 victory.

Man City advanced with a 5-1 aggregate score. Coach Pep Guardiola's team will face Inter in the final on June 10 in Istanbul, Türkiye. Previously, in the other semi-final, Inter beat Milan 3-0 on aggregate.

Real Madrid are still the most historic team in the C1/Champions League, with 14 titles. Inter have three, while Man City have never won. Man City's best result to date is reaching the final in 2021: losing 0-1 to Chelsea.

Last season's semi-final saw Real beat Man City 6-5 on aggregate. Carlo Ancelotti's side then beat Liverpool 1-0 to claim their 14th title.

Thanh Quy (according to BT Sport )

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