A focused Manchester City will channel the pain of their Champions League semifinal defeat by Real Madrid into Sunday's home game against Newcastle United, manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.
The Spaniard told reporters he had not spoken to his players since Real's astonishing comeback in Wednesday's second leg in Madrid and nothing he said would be any consolation.
There’s no sequence of words that can accurately describe and recap the magical events that took place at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday. What is certain is that Real Madrid’s miraculous comeback to win 6-5 on aggregate against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League semifinal would never have happened without Ferland Mendy’s heroic defensive actions in the 87th minute.
You never write Real Madrid out of a Champions League plot. Never do it. Ever. Except this time. This time it felt right. This time they truly seemed cooked.
Wow! That was a roller coaster. Manchester City and Real Madrid gifted the world a nerve-wracking first semifinal in the Champions League. Yes, the English club got the win, but in the long list of highlights, it is impossible not to talk about Vinícius Jr.'s goal, a beautiful display of pace and skill. The best of the seven we witnessed Tuesday night.
The Brazilian winger scored in the 55th minute, in a sequence where he should have been fined for speeding.
Everyone stopped. Well, almost everyone.
Bernardo Silva heeded that ageless piece of wisdom taught to every young soccer player around the world: Play to the whistle. He was rewarded with a stunning goal, the fourth in Manchester City’s 4-3 win over Real Madrid on Tuesday in the Champions League semifinals.
Our Champions League predictions arrive at the semifinal stage with Europe's premier club competition showcasing England's two best teams, Manchester City and Liverpool, Spain's top side, Real Madrid, and another Spanish representative, Villarreal, that's thoroughly deserving of its place having knocked out Bayern Munich, Juventus and Atalanta on its memorable journey.
Who will contest the final on May 28 at the Stade de France in Paris? Let's turn to our collective of Nostradamus-minded people.
You have probably already seen videos online of Alex Alcalá collecting Manchester United U17 players' souls. The 16-year-old Mexican kid was one of the biggest sensations in the last 2022 Generation adidas Cup, and we cannot stop watching his highlights.
In case you missed his talent, you don't need to be worried. Here it is:
Alex Alcala (16) showing some of his skill vs Manchester United U17s pic.twitter.com/Q8wds23rlZ
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola defended back-up goalkeeper Zack Steffen, saying he should keep his place despite an error that led to Saturday's 3-2 defeat by Liverpool in the FA Cup semifinal.
Liverpool had a comfortable 90 minutes at Wembley Stadium on Saturday in the FA Cup semifinal vs. Manchester City. The final four minutes of stoppage time weren’t so comfortable as a late City push made for an exciting 3-2 finale victory for Liverpool.
American goalkeeper Zack Steffen can be given a lot of credit for making Liverpool’s afternoon so easy. Steffen had a disastrous first half that saw him concede three goals including an all-time blunder.
American goalkeeper Zack Steffen had an all-time fail in the FA Cup semifinal vs. Liverpool to give the Reds a 2-0 lead early in the game. This is the second year in-a-row that Steffen has gotten the start in a FA Cup semifinal and made a horrible blunder. Here’s Saturday’s Steffen fail vs. Liverpool.
MANE CATCHES ZACK STEFFEN SLEEPING pic.twitter.com/X7GYqHqB04