Real Madrid vs. Manchester City: 2016 Champions League, Leg 2 Score and Reaction

Real Madrid’s quest to be crowned kings of European football for an 11th time is alive and kicking, as they beat Manchester City, 1-0, at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday to book their place in the Champions League final.

After a 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg, Gareth Bale’s cross deflected in off Fernando in the 20th minute to give Los Blancos a crucial advantage in the tie. After the break, the hosts continued to dominate and despite nervy spells and missed chances, were comfortable in seeing their one-goal lead out.

Zinedine Zidane’s side will face local rivals Atletico Madrid at the San Siro on May 28, after they overcame Bayern Munich in the other semi on Tuesday.

When it comes to this competition, there are no teams who relish these occasions quite like Real Madrid. And as we can see here, courtesy of Edu Aguirre via Bleacher Report UK, a pretty special atmosphere was building at the Bernabeu pre-match:

Real Madrid fans aren’t messing around outside the Santiago Bernabeu tonight ????[???? @EduAguirre7]pic.twitter.com/AVkOBEIDjZ

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) May 4, 2016

City fans making the trip to the Spanish capital would have been comforted to see the familiar core of Joe Hart, Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and skipper Vincent Kompany in place for this one. But they also had to endure another familiar sight in the ninth minute, as the injury-plagued captain hobbled off the field.

HLN’s Kristof Terreur summed up what has been a hugely frustrating 2015-16 for Kompany:

Kompany’s season:✅ 8 games, ⏱704❌ 5 weeks✅ 6 games, ⏱418❌ 7 weeks✅ 1 game,⏱9❌ 7 weeks✅ 7 games, ⏱496 ❌ 5 weeks✅ 3 games, ⏱189❌ out

— Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland) May 4, 2016

Eliaquim Mangala was called upon to replace the captain, and in the opening 15 minutes, City kept Real at bay pretty well. Eventually, it was a stroke of fortune for the hosts that saw the Premier League side fall behind.

Bale burst into the penalty area in the right channel and swung his weaker right foot at the ball from an acute …

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