26th April 2020 Manchester City 4 Real Madrid 3
I saw a trip to Manchester for the Champions League semi final advertised on Facebook. £149 including ticket, bus travel and overnight b&b accommodation. There was a £15 supplement for a single room which I also paid. Pickup was at Hermiston Gait at 10.45 and I arrived there by tram just as the bus drew early at 10.30. The bus had picked up people in Dunfermline and we then went to Bathgate, Paisley, Glasgow and Hamilton before heading off to Manchester around 12.30. After an hours stop at Southwaite services we finally arrived at the Etihad stadium at 18.00. The bus park in a bus park near the stadium and we walked across a walkway towards the stadium. With the kickoff being at 20.00 there was time to spare and I had a walk round the stadium. There were food outlets, bars, musicians and interviews with players and former players going on and the outside area was buzzing. I decided to enter the ground around 19.00 although everyone entering was being electronically searched. I passed the search and scanned my £50 ticket for entry. The cost was the highest I have paid to watch a match beating the £47 for an Arsenal v Hull FA Cup match in 2009. Once inside the ground I had a steak pie and a coke before heading to my seat. I was in the family stand behind the goal and although my seat was to the right of the posts I had an excellent view. Signs were on the passageway to the seats stating that this was a family stand and that supporters should refrain from bad language. As the teams came out to warm up the atmosphere built up. City had placed flags at all the seats for home supporters and these were being waved vigorously. I was chatting to the guy seating next to me and it turned out he had lived in Edinburgh while serving in the army.
I was really looking toward to tonights match between probably two of the best club sides in Europe. I have seen Manchester City before, the last time being a 5-1 for Hears against them in a rare-season friendly in 1995. City are however a much changes side since then with a huge influx of money and a fantastic squad. Everyone in the squad is an international player with several being world class. The thought of seeing players like Phil Foden, Kevin de Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez playing live rather than watching on Sky was fantastic. As for Madrid I have never before seen them play live before. However they have won the Champions League and its predecessor the European Cup thirteen times and have been a class side since the mid 1950's. Again the side is packed with international players with Luka Modric, David Alaba and Karim Benzema along others being world class.
The teams came out to a great welcome with City flags flying in the stands and 'Blue Moon' blaring over the tannoy. The game started well for City and they took the lead after ninety-three second. Mahraz on the right sent in a cross towards the far post. De Bruyne dived forward in front of Dani Carvajal to had home and give City the lead. De Bruyne created another goal on 11 minutes when he sent a low ball into the box from the left. Gabriel Jesus turned Alaba and gave Thibaut Courtois no chance with his finish. City however still looked vulnerable and Ederson did not look comfortable with his clearances. He was twice closed down and managed to clear the ball before sending a pass straight to a Madrid player. The ball was played across to the left and Rueben Dias was lucky when his attempted clearance hit his own goal post before being cleared. Mahrez then shot into the side netting with Foden unmarked in the centre of the goal screaming for a cutback. Madrid pulled a goal back after thirty three minutes when a cross from Ferland Mendy from the left was swept into the net by the unmarked Benzema from around six yards at the far post.City then lost John Stones to injury before halftime and he was replaced by Fernandinho.
If the first half was good the second was even better. I enjoyed watching Modric. I know some people said he had not played well tonight but I thought he was excellent. His control of the ball and then finding his team mates with astute passes was so good to watch. City scored a third after fifty-three minutes. Fernandinho made a forward run from right-back and chipped a cross to the far post. Foden cushioned his header back across Courtois in the far corner of the net.City needed to hold their two goal advantage for a while but Madrid pulled a goal back two minutes later. Vinicius Junior left Fernandinho for dead with a turn and dummy just inside his own half. The wingers pace took him away from Fernandinho and he cut into the penalty area before shooting low past Ederson into the far corner of the net. The game continued on an end to end basis and City were next story core with the assistance of another star on the pitch, referee István Kovács. De Bruyne was fouled just outside the penalty area but therefore allowed play to continue. The ball broke to Bernando Silva about twenty yards from goal and he curled a great shot into the top corner of the Madrid net. A lot of referees would have stopped play for the original foul but in this instance the referee made the sensible decision although he may have called play back if the shot had not hit the net. The game continued at a frantic pace and Real scored a third in eighty-two minutes after a cross into the area was blocked by Aymeric Laporte's handball. Bemzema stepped up to take the penalty and as Emerson dived to his left chipped the ball down the centre of the goal into the net. This was a 'Panenka" kick named after the Czech lay who scored in this manner in the Euro's in 1976. It takes a lot of nerve to score in this manner and I then it should be renamed a "Benzema". The game continued a City had a couple chances in injury time with crosses flashed across the area but forwards unable to connect. the injury time wa spoiled slightly but a couple of fans invading the pitch. There had been cannot announcements that anyone invading the pitch would be banned from the ground and in the ca of anyone under fourteen the able with them would also be banned. A young boy maybe 11/12 ran onto the pitch and it looked as if he had been encouraged by adults near him as he ran to speak to De Bruyne. This was followed by a Madrdi fan draped in a Spanish flag running onto the pitch. Both were stopped by stewards and taken out of the stadium.
After the final whistle I headed back to the bus and was in my seat fifteen minutes after the kickoff. However stewards were allowing cars out a car park in front of the buses out first and it was around thirty minutes after the final whistle before we ould move off. It was around midnight when we reached our hotel in Blackpool but there ere sandwiches waiting forms and the bar was still open. I was restrained and only had one drink before heading to bed although some were in the bar till 4.00am. The next morning I had a cooked breakfast and then went for a walk before returning to the hotel to head back home at 12.30. It was a long journey heading to Hamilton, Glasgow and Bathgate before Edinburgh and I finally got home around 18.30 after a fantastic trip.
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