How Man City used last season's Real Madrid defeat to inspire Bernabeu performance
manchestereveningnews.co.ukManchester City used last season's Champions League semi-final collapse against Real Madrid to their advantage in the build-up to Tuesday's draw at the Bernabeu.
City were paired with Madrid at the semi-final stage for the second year running, and returned to the Bernabeu this week 12 months on from conceding twice in second-half injury time at the end of the second leg to force extra-time.
Real had the momentum and knocked City out, but the Blues were far more composed a year on and recorded a respectable 1-1 draw to take into next week's deciding home leg.
Reflecting on the draw, defender Manu Akanji revealed that last year's performance was analysed in the pre-match preparations this week, and ensured that the City squad wouldn't repeat their mistakes this time. ALSO READ: Man City face tricky wait to see full extent of Real Madrid pain Akanji started at left-back in the absence of Nathan Ake, and largely kept Rodrygo quiet, although he pointed to Real's impressive opening goal by Vinicius as proof that there is simply no room for the defence to switch off in the second leg. “We looked at the videos of what happened last year, and we’ve learned," Akanji said. "We did it a lot better.
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