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What can be better than this? Would it have really been better to win 2-0? Real Madrid was able to comeback two different times, even though the team should've won by a larger margin. Mourinho decided to start Essien, Xabi Alonso and Khedira instead of Özil. Eveyrone expected to see Coentrao in the left back as well, but Marcelo finally got the spot and played a brilliant game overall , even tying the game 1-1 after Dzeko scored City's first goal.
Joe Hart is arguably the world's best goalkeeper. He is absolutely unbelievable. If it wasn't for the English goalie, Real Madrid would have had a 3-0 lead by halftime. City's second best player was Yaya Toure. The African midfielder could already be one of the best in his position. Toure allows his team to both defend and attack, what an impressive performance from him.
It's hard to highlight any Real Madrid player. The team played well, starting from Essien, going through Di María and finishing with Özil, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo or Khedira. Essien and Khedira took turns to press Manchester City's defenders down. Higuaín and Di María helped a lot as well, allowing Real Madrid to have most of the possession and also 35 shots during the whole game.
Edin Dzeko's goal in the 68th minute came from City's first shot on target. That's it, Varane, Pepe, and the midfielders kept the Barclays Premier League champions from shooting for 68 minutes. The French defender confirmed he's definitely a special talent. He's 19 years old and he performed almost as well as Pepe. He's really close to fight that spot with Sergio Ramos, and there's no doubt that he is a better player than Raúl Albiol.
Marcelo played brilliantly. When the other team is defending, Marcelo helps the team in the offensive part a lot. It's true that City tried to attack his part of the pitch, but Essien and Pepe covered him brilliantly. That could be a reason why Sergio Ramos didn't start tonight. The Spanish defender had a hard time covering Marcelo in Sevilla's loss. Pepe is quicker and also tougher, and Varane is the only other center back with experience in the right part of the defense.
Mourinho introduced Mesut Özil for Michael Essien before Dzeko scored. City was trying to keep the score 0-0 and it was a good decision to place Özil in to move the ball quicker and try to beat City's defenders.
Marcelo tied the game shortly after City got the lead. The ball touched the leg of City's defender, but after 75 minutes of bad luck, the ball hit the back of the net for los blancos. Benzema and Modric had already entered the pitch for Higuaín and Khedira after Dzeko scored.
But then it was all Kolarov's time. The Serbian left winger is really dangerous from set pieces and he demonstrated it once again. He tried to cross the ball, but it bounced on the grass and went right in. Alonso tried to clear the danger but missed the touch for a couple of milimeters. That shocked the Bernabéu. The team was thinking about obtaining the lead after Marcelo tied it, and they saw City scoring in their third shot on target.
Luckily enough for Real Madrid, Benzema scored a beautiful goal two minutes after the 1-2 goal. The Bernabéu was rocking once again. Cristiano Ronaldo took profit from Vincent Kompany's mistake. City's captain should've cleared the danger, but he confused Hart instead. Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated his goal once again. Mourinho did it in a very similar way with his knees on the ground.
Real Madrid and the Champions League are back.
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