The **Champions League**is the stage for the clash of the titans, and the most frequent battle between the European elite in recent times has involved **Man City**and Real Madrid. The two clubs have competed against each other in five of the last six continental campaigns and all of the previous four.
The two teams meet again on Wednesday evening in the headline fixture of the matchday, and if history is anything to go by, then neutrals can expect to see something of a European epic.
**Man City**had knocked out Zinedine Zidane from the **Champions League**for the first time as a Real Madrid manager in 2020, but two years later, they faced the king of continental football.
Carlo Ancelotti had returned for his second stint in the hot seat with Los Blancos, bringing success to a side deemed to be in a transitional phase. By the end of April, the **La Liga**crown was back in their hands, and Real reached the **Champions League**semi-final after an epic encounter with Chelsea.
Meanwhile, the Citizens were searching for their first **Champions League**crown, and they came out with a point to prove in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium. **Kevin de Bruyne**and Gabriel Jesus could have dented the spirit of the Spanish side irreparably, but the fireworks were just getting started.
Riyad Mahrez messed up a chance to kill the tie with a third goal, leaving **Pep Guardiola**irate, and Karim Benzema punished his profligacy with a goal. **Fernandinho**fired back, heading home a Phil Foden cross at the start of the second half, then City were pegged back again as Vinicius Junior breezed past his Brazilian compatriot to score a superb second strike for Real on the evening.
**Bernardo Silva**seemed to have given City a comfortable cushion when he lashed the ball beyond Thibaut Courtois from range. However, the Ballon d’Or winner-to-be, Benzema, brought the house down with an impudently chipped penalty to silence the supporters as he embarrassed Ederson.
City had won the battle, but the war was far from over. The tie was virtually locked level at half-time, and Guardiola’s men had to finish off the job at the sacred stadium that is the Santiago Bernabeu.
The second leg was a cagier contest, and the first 70 minutes of the match in the Spanish capital went without a goal for either outfit. Eventually, it was Mahrez who made the difference, and as the Algerian atoned for his selfishness the previous week, it appeared that all could be forgiven.
And then **Rodrygo**rose.
Vinicius was the Brazilian who burst into the elite this campaign, but his less heralded accomplice again had a pivotal part to play on the biggest stage. Weeks after his equaliser against Chelsea, **Rodrygo**tucked away a Benzema delivery with the team’s first shot on target in the 90 minutes.
Injury time beckoned, and he doubled his tally for the evening, heading home into the top corner. The Bernabeu broke out into delirious euphoria, and a shellshocked City could not engineer a response.
Rodrygo could have netted a hat-trick, but Real would not be denied for long. Benzema bundled away an extra-time penalty, marking another memorable night to add to Madrid’s European heritage centre.
So the suffering was prolonged for the Citizens on the continental stage. Their next stab at the title presented a chance for revenge: Real and City clashed once more in the semi-finals in 2023.
The return leg for Real would now involve an away day, but they had done enough to spook their opponents at the Bernabeu. City controlled more of the ball and the territory, but Ancelotti’s men made the breakthrough with a moment of magic as Vinicius scored a screamer from distance.
De Bruyne drilled an equally emphatic equaliser past his compatriot Courtois, but City knew they needed a relentless performance to put things to bed. The divinities had decided it was their time.
Erling Haaland might not have been the difference maker on the scoresheet that the Citizens hoped for, but the team hit all the right notes at the Etihad Stadium. As John Stones stepped confidently into the midfield, blue shirts swarmed the final third and completely disarmed the Spanish side.
**Bernardo Silva**scored twice before the break, and City would have been out of sight if not for the heroics of Courtois. Real were not quite dead and buried by half-time, but City continued a merciless onslaught. Manuel Akanji headed home, and Julian Alvarez added a fourth goal before full-time.
The trophy that had tormented Guardiola for more than a decade was finally within reach. Having vanquished the kings of the continent, City had earned the right to wrap up a historic treble.
And that they did, defeating Inter Milan 1-0 in the final in Istanbul. Ten months later, the teams did battle again as City came to Madrid at the quarter-final stage to continue the defence of their crown.
The new title holders had stunned the Bernabeu after just two minutes, after Bernardo bent a free kick around the wall and past Andriy Lunin. But Ancelotti, a wily old fox, was not to be outwitted again.
City’s structure was showing signs of fragility, and the absence of the athleticism of Kyle Walker was a blow at the back. Madrid made their move decisively: Eduardo Camavinga watched a deflected strike level the score, and two minutes later, Rodrygo ran free to score a second on the counterattack.
Jude Bellingham brought intensity and work rate from the role of a false nine to frustrate the reigning champions, and City’s cracks continued to be revealed as they rushed their work with the ball. But the strongest sides still find a way to beat the odds, and the visitors unearthed two moments of magic.
Firstly, Foden found himself in a now familiar situation: free at the top of the box, he swivelled and smashed a shot into the roof of the net. Then, it was the turn of Josko Gvardiol to grab the limelight as he thundered a distant effort past Lunin. But the best was yet to come from Federico Valverde.
The embodiment of a warrior, Valverde delivered a timely reminder of his ball-striking quality. He ran onto a Vinicius cross, slamming a volley off the floor and into the net. Six goals split evenly, and another reminder that Pep’s pursuit of control cannot shackle European royalty from start to finish.
Madrid managed to battle to victory at the **Etihad Stadium**a week later, and it would be their turn to triumph as the **Champions League**winners, for a record 15th time. The next campaign, Los Blancos crossed paths with City in the Champions League, but a lot less was on the line on this occasion.
A place in the knockout playoffs did not befit the status of these sides, but results do not lie. City were coming out the other end of a torrid winter where injuries crippled their ambitions. Meanwhile, Madrid’s new Galácticos were presenting a problem that even Ancelotti was struggling to solve.
However, the two clubs could still serve up a spectacle when they met in Manchester for the first leg.
Jack Grealish got the ball rolling with a lobbed pass for Gvardiol to assist Haaland, and City were a goal to the good after 19 minutes. But this version of the City automaton was wired with many more mistakes than before, and the visitors still had the individual quality to go through the gears.
Bellingham became a more omnipresent force in the midfield, and the stardust in the final third took the initiative in front of him. Kylian Mbappé was alive to an opportunity from a free kick, and although he mishit a shot, the French forward was rewarded for his alert attitude with the equaliser.
Then the momentum switched again, and Dani Ceballos clattered into Foden, giving away a penalty to Haaland. The number nine made no mistake, and City set out to secure a lead to take to Madrid.
More naivety would be their undoing. Brahim Diaz drove home the dagger of an equaliser against his old club, and City continued to run out of steam. In injury time, Vinicius had stolen the march on their defence, and as Ederson engaged off his line, Bellingham made a lung-bursting run to take the glory.
Mbappé mangled the Citizens in Madrid with a hat-trick the next week, and even if his side could not hold onto their title, they had proven themselves to be far superior to Guardiola’s group. But as **Xabi Alonso**attempts to create order out of chaos, City can rewrite the books in this ding-dong of a rivalry.