Manchester City were widely considered as favourites to win the Champions League. Well, that was until they met Real Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti's side did what they do best, and that is find ways to win ties. Both legs ended in draws but ultimately, Los Blancos were able to win on penalties and book their place in the semi-finals while the defending champions were eliminated from the competition.
Real Madrid now have to be considered as heavy favourites to win the Champions League.. In the semis, they will meet Bayern Munich, who lost their decade-long grip over the Bundesliga this season.
If they can make it past the semis, Real Madrid will come up against either Borussia Dortmund or PSG. The German club have won the competition once in their history, the French giants have never.
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva has shed some light on what makes it so difficult to face Real Madrid. And he should know well, having come up against Los Blancos in three straight Champions League knockout stage campaigns. As reported by 90min, the Portuguese international told TNT Sports:
"Real Madrid are a weird team.
"Sometimes it seems like you have control of the game and out of nowhere, they run twice [on the counter] and score two goals because their players individually are very good. They are so fast and strong on the counterattack that it is not easy to control them."
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva makes superb Real Madrid claim
Real Madrid are a team who know more than one way to win. In Spain, they are the team in control for the majority of the games.
But when they came up against Manchester City in the Champions League once again, Ancelotti knew that there was a need to adjust the approach. Lessons were learned from last season, when they lost 4-0 away in England to Pep Guardiola's team. Silva had scored a brace on that day.
While beautiful football is a matter of perspective, it is always preferable if a team can make necessary adjustments to deal with various situations. Real Madrid have shown time after time that they can do that. Be like water.