After a stunning opening 15 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu, no one can argue that Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side weren’t taking the game to Real Madrid.
The Premier League outfit were well on top in the first-leg of their Champions League semi-final, however, for all of the pressure and wonderful passing carousels, City were unable to find the net.
Rarely, if ever, can Los Blancos have been so outplayed on their own pitch mind you.
The current Champions League holders enjoy dominating their opponents particularly in La Liga, but in the opening exchanges it was they that had to do all of the running.
Touches in the opposition box in the opening 15 minutes:
? Real Madrid (0)
? Man City (14)?#RMAMCI | #UCL https://t.co/0vihHk76s5
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) May 9, 2023
A stat released on Twitter by the Squawka Live account showed just how on top Guardiola’s swashbucklers had been.
They are unlikely to have conceded just over 70 percent possession to any team at home, but that’s how dominant the visitors were, not even allowing Real to touch the ball once in the City box.
The worry for Pep will surely be that they hadn’t managed to convert their imperiousness into goals.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side always tend to have a goal in them, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the hosts were able to weather the storm and go on and grab one on a breakaway later in the game.
Simply put, City need to be more clinical when they have the ball in front of goal and with chances to open the scoring.