2022 Champions League (semifinals)

1st Leg

Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid

Sometimes the offense is ready to play before the defense, I guess, because Man City scored in the 2nd minute (nice header from deBruyne on a perfect cross, while Real's defense was still warming up). Then when they scored in the 11th minute (another defensive lapse, felt like), seemed like Real Madrid was not gonna have enough to get back into the match. Well, there was still plenty more action, though Man City pretty well dominated the 1st half. Well before halftime Benzema was able to get Real on the board (Benzema is ballin'). Then Man City got another goal soon after halftime (another good header off another good cross--you would expect Real to shore up their defense at some point!). But Vinicius getting by the defense at midfield, off to the races, and the nice sneaky finish as the keeper was cooked and, well, it was a reminder that Real still has scoring power. Man City countered soon after (killer rip in the box) to put the lead back up to two goals. A weird handball in the box gave Real a free PK and Benzema buried it. The final score makes it look like a close game, but it really wasn't. Real had two beautiful chances that they converted and a fluke handball but for the vast majority of this game, Man City was by far the better squad. You'd expect Man City to finish this off back in Madrid, but this Real squad gets lucky, so it's not over yet. 

Liverpool 2-0 Villareal

Liverpool was the better team, kept up the attack for most of the game, really pretty much dominated the whole 90 minutes. Villareal did well to parry the Liverpool attack for 52 minutes, but once Liverpool got their first goal (bit of a fluky deflection), then quickly added another (sneaky pass from Salah to Mane in the box to poke past the keeper), it was kinda over. Liverpool had two more goals called off for offside (both correct calls), just to highlight the fact that Villareal was never in this match. Villareal needs to find some offense in the return match or this is over. 

2nd Leg

Villareal 2-3 (agg 2-5) Liverpool 

Villareal needed 2 goals to even it up and when they opened the match by scoring on their first possession, felt like we had a for-real barnburner. Villareal pretty well dominated the 1st half as Liverpool stayed sluggish at best (kinda lazy really), and added another goal right before halftime (nice header off a lovely cross) and the 2nd half was set to be must-see entertainment. But, then Liverpool showed up and straight dominated (throw in that Villareal's goalie had a nightmare of a game) and the aggregate score does not look competitive at all. And, on second thought, Villareal had one solid half of soccer but pretty much sucked in the other 3/4 and there you go, Liverpool is moving on. 

Real Madrid 3-1 (agg 6-5) Manchester City

Wow! I thought Man City was generally the better team, had better chances throughout and when they scored early in the 2nd half to give themselves a two goal lead in the aggregate, felt like this one was over. But, no, Real Madrid has been doing it the weird way all through this tournament and they managed to net 2 goals in extra time to send the match into OT. I still thought Man City was better and had better opportunities, but it was Real that got the PK (good call) that sent them on to the Final. 

Final

Well, this probably should be Liverpool-Man City, but Real Madrid prayed to all the right gods and find themselves here instead. On the Madrid side, Benzema is arguably the MVP of this whole tournament and Vinicius has played well, but, honestly, that's pretty much it. This Real side is not that impressive as you get away from the forwards up front. But, they have been lucky as hell and they do have two great forwards and that's not bad. Liverpool is a more complete team: they have the more reliable defense, I'd say better in midfield, too (love ya, Modric, but little past the prime at this point) and, like Real, they have good forwards, too. Obviously soccer is a low scoring game, upsets are certainly possible--and Real Madrid is as good at surprises as anyone!--but Liverpool is clearly the better team and in a 2-game set, I think they'd be a heavy favorite. But there's only one game and this Real Madrid has more lives than a curious car. I'll take Liverpool to pull it out, but I'm no longer shocked by anything Real does. Okay, we'll see.