Champions League Semi-finals 1st-Leg Recap

This season’s UEFA Champions League semi-final matchups brought us two ties that in theory were quite even and that in reality have also turned out to be so, especially the match between Real Madrid and Manchester City. The second legs will be played this week, so the way in which the managers handle the minutes of their players during the weekend and the preparation of the match in a short period of time may be elements that affect the course of the second leg.

Within touching distance 🏆#UCL pic.twitter.com/ZDDpX8BoKb

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 15, 2023

Real Madrid – Manchester City

The start of the match was what was expected in the preview: the English team with superior ball possession, with a relative dominance that sought to get ahead on the pitch, faithful to the characteristics people are used to from Pep Guardiola’s teams. Real Madrid took a stance more focused on waiting for their mistake or recovering the ball and starting quick counterattacks, taking advantage of the good vision and passing of Kroos and Modric to find Rodrygo and, especially, Vinicius’ runs.

In this sense, the Spanish team began to create dangerous chances that ended with a great goal by Vinicius who, after a good individual move by Camavinga, faced the center and finished off a shot that was unstoppable for Ederson. The second half showed a more offensive Real Madrid and with greater control of the game until Camavinga made a mistake starting a play that led to the ball reaching Gundogan and he assisted De Bruyne for the Belgian to make a great shot and equalized the match.

Despite the fact that Real Madrid were coming off a bad run in La Liga and City was in a very good one, the experience of Los Blancos in this type of match made the game a lot more even. Antonio Rudiger’s marking of Haaland also helped to even out the match since the Norwegian did not have a major impact on the match. We will have to wait for the second leg to find out if Ancelotti will keep the German when Militao returns from suspension.

Top scorer: Haaland clear at the top ⚽️#UCL pic.twitter.com/GJhcW9RtP0

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 14, 2023

Milan – Inter

Perhaps City’s slight favoritism over Real Madrid made the Derby della Madonnina look as a more even match. However, in reality, Inter managed to take a good lead, although not decisive for the tie. Inter started the match strongly and just in the 8th minute, managed to take advantage with a Mkhitaryan corner that was finished off by Edin Dzeko, after poor positioning from right-back Davide Calabria who was physically surpassed by the Bosnian.

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Just a couple of minutes later, Inter started a counterattack that took Milan by surprise and with a lot of distance between their defenders and their midfielders, which allowed Dimarco to move down the left and into the middle where Lautaro Martínez let the ball pass, allowing the Armenian Mkhitaryan , who entered the box with striking freedom, to score easily when he found himself alone against Maignan.

Then Bennacer had to leave the pitch with a knee injury and Calhanoglu nearly scored the third goal. The scenario seemed to be terrible when the referee awarded a penalty for a contact from Kjaer to Martínez but the VAR corrected the decision. Little by little, Milan began to take control of the game and generate goal chances but failed to score. Next Tuesday’s game seems complicated for the rossonero but thinking about a comeback cannot be ruled out.