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Analysis

An abject Manchester City performance and more Champions League talking points

After a sparkling display, is Luka Modric the most underrated midfielder in the game?

Spanish dominance of European competition is remarkable

TONIGHT’S RESULT MEANS that from the six sides left in Europe’s two elite competitions, four are Spanish.

In 2014 and 2015, a Spanish team won both the Champions League and Europa League.

This year, it’s very possible that it will be an all-Spanish affair in both tournament deciders.

And despite the luring of Pep Guardiola to Germany and the return of Jose Mourinho to the Premier League, no one has been able to stop the juggernaut.

[image alt="Real Madrid v Manchester City - UEFA Champions League - Semi Final - Second Leg - Santiago Bernabeu" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2016/05/real-madrid-v-manchester-city-uefa-champions-league-semi-final-second-leg-santiago-bernabeu-9-296x174.jpg" width="296" height="174" class="alignnone" /end]

With the rise of Atletico, La Liga now has an immensely competitive, three-way title race every season.

Meanwhile, the best of the rest have impressed too.

Sevilla have tasted some European dominance of their own and are seeking a historic third-straight Europa League title this term. No side since Bayern Munich in the 1970s has managed three straight Uefa competitions.

Fittingly, it’s a Spanish club that has a great chance of doing it.

With Diego Simeone masterminding Atleti’s incredible ascent and Luis Enrique, Zinedine Zidane and Villarreal’s Marcelino all enjoying impressive campaigns, it’s also a breeding ground for talented young coaches.

While Germany and the Bundesliga seemed to grab the spotlight in recent times, the reign in Spain has begun again.

Eoin O’Callaghan  
http://twitter.com/dermotmcorrigan/status/727963228890869760

City go down without a fight

It took Manchester City the best part of 85 minutes at the Bernabeu – in a Champions League semi-final second leg – to register a shot on goal. Sergio Aguero dropped off, found a pocket of space and unleashed a dipping shot on goal.

It was the closest City came throughout the entire tie to breaching Keylor Navas’ goal but for the final stages of tonight’s game, Real Madrid were rattled.

Questions were being asked of their oft-vulnerable defence and, for the first time, they weren’t in control. But it was too little, too late and City exited with a whimper.
http://twitter.com/SkySportsStatto/status/727962535979274240

Joe Hart cut a frustrated, and emotional, figure as he addressed the media in the immediate aftermath. He had stood firm throughout the 180 minutes and was, by a country mile, City’s best player. But he and his team-mates will return home reflecting on a missed chance.

They were so lethargic and rarely showed any adventure throughout the tie. Put simply, they did nothing to deserve to go through. Hart, and Manuel Pellegrini, conceded that but for a club which has spent an inordinate amount of money to assemble a ‘world class’ squad, is that good enough?

[image alt="Real Madrid v Manchester City - UEFA Champions League - Semi Final - Second Leg - Santiago Bernabeu" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2016/05/real-madrid-v-manchester-city-uefa-champions-league-semi-final-second-leg-santiago-bernabeu-7-296x197.jpg" width="296" height="197" class="alignnone" /end]

When they knew they had to force the issue and find a way back into the game, City offered nothing. They took no risks and showed little in the way of fight to grasp their chance and advance to the club’s first ever Champions League final.

Real Madrid were worthy winners but they too were far from their best and were there to be exposed. Yaya Toure’s performance in midfield just about summed up City’s attitude, or lack of it, on the night.

If Pep Guardiola was watching on, the incoming coach will have learned a lot from tonight’s performance and that the squad he will inherit needs an overhaul if Manchester City are to ever compete with Europe’s elite.

Ryan Bailey

Luka Modric is arguably the most underrated midfielder in the game

It’s coming up on four years since Luka Modric swapped Tottenham for Real Madrid and how the Premier League dearly misses his craft, composure and deft touch.

[image alt="Real Madrid v Manchester City - UEFA Champions League - Semi Final - Second Leg - Santiago Bernabeu" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2016/05/real-madrid-v-manchester-city-uefa-champions-league-semi-final-second-leg-santiago-bernabeu-8-296x193.jpg" width="296" height="193" class="alignnone" /end]

He ran the show and despite a three-man City midfield of Fernando, Fernandinho and Yaya Toure (yes, he actually was there), both the Croatian and Toni Kroos had little difficulty in playing around them and creating openings.
http://twitter.com/BenMcAleer1/status/727950432073613314

Much was made when Kroos was snapped up by Madrid in the aftermath of Germany’s successful World Cup in 2014. But as good as he is, Modric is a wizard when he wants to be, as evidenced by that glorious pass he delivered to Marcelo with the outside of his foot during the first-half.

Quiet, unassuming and such an antithesis to what the modern footballer is and represents, Modric should be adored in much the same way Andrea Pirlo was in the latter part of his career.

Sadly, it’s unlikely to ever happen. Modric just isn’t the type for headlines. And that suits him just fine.

Eoin O’Callaghan

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Real edge past Man City to set up all-Madrid Champions League final

As it happened: Real Madrid v Manchester City, Champions League

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