Real Madrid’s capitulation may accelerate rebuild and Ancelotti exit

“We have to tell the truth,” Toni Kroos said, and the truth hurt. There was no escaping it, not this time. “This defeat was very, very deserved,” the midfielder admitted when at last it was over, which by then was all Real Madrid could aspire to. The night before the Champions League semi-final second leg, Carlo Ancelotti had gathered his players at the Etihad Stadium and told them there would be moments they would have to hang on: 20 minutes, 25, maybe 30. It is their way, and Manchester City had made them suffer before, after all. Just not quite like this. Even half an hour turned out to be hopelessly optimistic.

That mark had just been passed when Kroos crashed a shot against the bar. It was Real Madrid’s first, and the first time they had anything resembling possession. In the opening quarter of an hour they had averaged less than a pass a minute and it hadn’t got much better. City had taken nine shots, and if they only led 1-0 it was because Thibaut Courtois had made two extraordinary saves. And yet in that moment, as the goal shook, you couldn’t help wondering whether Madrid were going to go and do it again. Two minutes later, Bernardo Silva made it 2-0. That’ll be a no, then.

Asked whether that shot might have changed things, Kroos conceded that it could have been a “different game” but preferred a broader analysis where the conclusions were clear. Half an hour? This was the whole night; City never loosened their grip, never allowed room for another miracle, and Madrid never found a way of wresting control, Julián Álvarez scoring the fourth in the 91st minute. The champions were out. No what ifs, just logic applied. “City were superior,” Luka Modric said; “better from start to finish,” Dani Carvajal agreed.

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