Real Madrid Confidencial Incredible but True: Real Madrid Must Start to Lose to Eliminate Manchester City
Whenever they have faced each other in the last 3 seasons, whoever scored the first goal was eliminated
Real Madrid and Manchester City have been involved in intense clashes in the last three seasons of the Champions League. Curiously, in all these duels, the team that scored first ended up eliminated.
2021/22 Season: De Bruyne's first goal wasn't enough
In the 2021/22 season, Manchester City won 4-3 at the Etihad Stadium. Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring, but overall, Real Madrid came back and advanced with a 5-6. The first goal wasn't enough for the Citizens, who were knocked out.
2022/23: Vini Jr. scored, but City advanced
In the 2022/23 campaign, Vinícius Jr. scored first at Bernabéu in the 1-1 draw. However, City won 4-0 in the return leg and advanced to the final. Real Madrid, once again, couldn't prevent scoring the first goal from being a sign of elimination.
2023/24: Madrid comes back after an early goal by Bernardo Silva
In the past season, 2023/24, Manchester City took the lead quickly again. Bernardo Silva scored from a free kick in the 2nd minute, but Real Madrid didn't give up. They tied 4-4 overall and won in the penalty shootout.
Curiously, in that shootout, the first to score was Julián Álvarez, but Madrid ended up coming back, continuing the story that the team that scored first was knocked out.
A curious trend: scoring first is synonymous with elimination
This pattern between Real Madrid and Manchester City has repeated for three consecutive years. The team that manages to score first ends up out of the competition. This strange statistic might be a sign of how this rivalry unfolds in the Champions League.
The question now is whether this pattern will repeat in the next matchup between both teams. Real Madrid knows that, curiously, starting by losing might be their best option to advance.
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