Real Madrid eliminated Manchester City on penalties on Wednesday night, seeing themselves through to another Champions League final. Having been dominated for almost the entirety of the 120 minutes prior, it felt almost inevitable Los Blancos would see the job through, and there are some signs they were quite confident too.
It was not lost on many that none of Real Madrid’s final three penalty takers were starters last season, with Lucas Vazquez, Nacho Fernandez and Antonio Rudiger all converting with ease. Vazquez indeed was doing keepy-uppies before his penalty, in front of disbelieving audience.
The clip you've been asking for https://t.co/7kcbSrT9cL pic.twitter.com/WSQH679k2U
— 𝟗 🇵🇸 (@GreatWhiteNueve) April 17, 2024
Lucas Vazquez is the colest penalty taker ever pic.twitter.com/icFgK5KLJq
— 🫵🏽 (@idoxvi) April 17, 2024
Meanwhile Rudiger slotted his penalty way with little fuss, but before doing so had directed Andriy Lunin to right direction to stop Mateo Kovacic’s spot-kick correctly too.
Antonio Rudiger doesn't just score penalties, he sees them ahead of time.#RealMadrid #mcfc pic.twitter.com/uG0foNkDSK
— Football España (@footballespana_) April 18, 2024
According to Relevo, Bernardo Silva’s failed attempt to go down the middle – caught with ease by Lunin – was not by accident. Goalkeeping coach Luis Llopis had instructed the Ukrainian that three of City’s players taking penalties sometimes went down the middle, and that he should only remain there on one of their three penalties. As it was, Lunin chose correctly.
Meanwhile the selection of Real Madrid‘s takers drew attention to the matter too, with Carlo Ancelotti after the match noting that ‘many players wanted to take them’. There was just one who ruled themselves out – Eder Militao. The Brazilian reasoned that Ederson knew him from the national team, and would have read on where he would stick his penalty.
Details in a masterpiece for Madridistas, as they look forward to another semi-final against Bayern Munich in two weeks time. Ancelotti said after the game that Real Madrid never die, and Los Blancos will certainly have that feeling of invincibility back again. Davide Ancelotti later revealed to MD that Fede Valverde also asked not to take a penalty, as he was ‘completely dead’.
