Manchester City’s lapses against Real Madrid could lead to more Champions League disappointment

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City had their Champions League semifinal against Real Madrid signed and sealed three times, but still ended up with their prospects of a place in next month’s final in the balance. Pep Guardiola’s team have become football’s most exciting team, but their sense of adventure could cost them the prize they cherish above all others after ending up with a 4-3 first-leg win in a classic encounter which felt more like a missed opportunity.

City will face Real in the Santiago Bernabeu in the second leg next Wednesday as favourites to progress to the final on May 28 in Paris, yet the trip to the Spanish capital should have been nothing more than a stress-free excursion after opening up a two-goal lead against Carlo Ancelotti’s team on three separate occasions at the Etihad.

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Unfortunately for the Premier League leaders, their inability to defend as well as they attack allowed Real to score and claim a lifeline each time City moved two goals clear, so next week’s encounter in the Bernabeu threatens to be an ordeal that could end with another Champions League dream turning into a nightmare for Guardiola and his players.

“City have an advantage,” Ancelotti said. “But it’s not a big advantage and hopefully our supporters can help us on to achieve another final.”

Yes, City treated us all to an incredible spectacle of attacking football, with Real torn apart at times by the home team’s pace and movement up-front. But City’s Champions League downfall, in virtually every season since Guardiola took charge in 2016, has been their habit of conceding too often against top-quality opponents. City can blow any team away, but the difference between the Premier League and Champions League is that, in the elite competition, the opposition is capable of biting back and biting hard.