The second leg of the semifinal was decided by a superb shot by Gareth Bale from a tight angle that deflected off defender Fernando in the 20th minute and was marked down as an own goal.
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But those bare statistics do not tell the full tale of a match that was dominated by the Spanish giants and their margin of victory could have been much greater.
The first leg in Manchester on April 26 ended 0-0.
Manuel Pellegrini accepted Real Madrid deserve the Champions League Final but rued a lack of luck for his Manchester City.
Arsene Wenger previewed Arsenal’s clash with Manchester City, and their prospects for Champions League next season.
He added: “Real Madrid could not create chances, but after that work you have to create and have players who can do work in the final third but we couldn’t”. “We had problems creating, same as Real Madrid”.
City captain Vincent Kompany was substituted with a suspected groin injury in the 10th minute.
With the rivalry reaching the European level again, Madrid’s streets have been filled with fans proudly sporting each team’s jerseys, and the Champions League rematch was virtually the only thing making headlines in sports pages across the city.
“What we didn’t have was the creative players”.
“Cristiano (Ronaldo) played like he always does, but everyone worked hard and that’s why we’re in the final”. We won the game 1-0 and that shows that we had to dig in against a very strong side.
“We are happy because we are in the final and it is special”, said Ronaldo, who returned to action after missing the last three games. “They could not kill it off, we defended well when needed, but we just didn’t have that little bit more”. We tried to create some chances but it was hard.
Commenting about his injury, he said: “I was at a hundred percent”.
“I enjoy taking responsibility on the pitch”, he said.
Yet Hart claimed to be unsure whether or not City’s effort had been sufficient to warrant a trip to the San Siro later this month to face Diego Simeone’s ferocious band of workhorses, who might just be the antithesis to the Manchester plutocrats.
“The players are the most important because they allow me to enjoy football”.
“I have got one already and now I have a chance to win another one”.
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“We know we will have a complicated match on May 28; now we have to rest and think of our game on Sunday”, the coach cautioned. That is what is important for us and then we will have time to think about the final. “They are there because they are a good team”.
