timeIt was a strange, dizzying, drunken game played under the roof of a dank greenhouse at the Santiago Bernabéu. In between periods when not much happens, brilliant things keep happening. There is a long time to grind gears. For much of the evening, the encounter between England’s No. 10s, your dream Foden-Bellingham showdown, stubbornly refused to materialize.
However, as the night wore on, the six goals were of a quality more and more reminiscent of the music policy at Kendall Roy’s birthday party, which was always a blast. The last goal, Federico Valverde equalized the score to 3-3. It was simply ridiculous, like a computer-generated extreme technical exercise, a static right foot downwards with full force to volley the far corner, through Pass the crowd. A player with the precision of an elite Crown Green pitcher.
Before that, we saw Bernardo Silva’s work of free-kick performance art. And Phil Foden’s side steps and corners. Josko Gvardiol casually kicked a bouncing corner butt. At the end of the day, a draw might work in City’s favour, both because they get to go home and because they will certainly play better than they did here in the first half. This might finally look like Madrid’s opportunity.
Beyond that, the most notable moment was probably Foden’s intervention when City were 2-1 down. Even more impressive was the fact that, as Guardiola later pointed out, he had “not been involved in the game” up to that point.
Coming to this stadium and calling games is a huge task. With Kevin De Bruyne ill, Foden started just behind Erling Haaland in City’s attack. He was often blocked by Toni Kroos. Otherwise he will drift with the flow, unable to find space or passing angles.
He was duly shifted to the right at the start of the second half and City looked as dull and aimless as they do in these big games. At this point the line seems to be narrowing, the clock is ticking a little slower, and somehow you just know this is going to happen, from the moment the space appears, by the speed and accuracy of the first two passes. Sex caused, ball fizzing Silva played the tune to John Stones who played it just as fast to Foden Foden).
On the edge of the penalty area, he doesn’t need to twist or find space, just adjust his position and use that familiar low lift to curl a wonderful rising shot into the top corner.
At that moment, City seemed to improve. This feels like a moment in Foden’s own arc. Even in a game of this magnitude, where there are many clues, cultural factors and layers of semiotics when a large crowd of Manchester City fans chanted “You’re just a piece of shit Barcelona” outside the Santiago Bernabeu before kick-off, there’s still one Basically the prospect of seeing Foden and Jude Bellingham on the same pitch is exciting.
It’s a huge moment for English football to have two such precocious and creative talents working in the boiler rooms of these two clubs.
Bellingham is football’s elite breakout star this season, with a new big name coming into view. Foden arrives at the Santiago Bernabeu with 15 goals and four assists in his last 18 games, having risen from touchline hypeman at the Met this time last year to a central creative influence.
Bellingham also plays No. 10 here, lurking behind Vinicius Junior, and his pace could be seen as a weapon against City’s high defence. He never seemed to settle. Earlier, Kroos had played a lovely but meaningless flick. He waved his arms and whether he was fouled or not, he let out a horrible groan. Otherwise City shut him down and Ruben Dias embarked on a highly profitable run. Bellingham is still young. It sometimes shows up.
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The game was a time of pure fun from the get-go. Less than a minute into the game, Jack Grealish dribbled the ball forward, but was cut down by a scythe. The free kick is taken 30 yards to the left. Real Madrid did not build the wall because someone else made the wall. They stood around, handsome and talented, waiting for it to be over.
Silva paused, letting his brain buzz, flicker and calculate, and then unleashed one of the most wonderful, terrifying, cunning, stupid free-kicks ever, low and hard over Andre. Lu Ning’s left hand.
Soon after, Eduardo Camavinga’s shot went wide to make it 1-1. The goal came out of nowhere, as did Real Madrid’s second goal in the 14th minute. From that point on, City had a lot of ice-cold possession and it felt like they were killing time. Madrid didn’t really press. They wait. you go first. We might do something later.
At that moment, City’s attack was static. Technically, Haaland is on the pitch. There is documentary evidence to prove this fact. Sometimes, players on the edge are described as occupying defenders. In a game like this, Haaland barely occupied his space.
The city needs shaking. They got one from Foden. By the time he limped off in agony eight minutes from the end, Foden had produced something very rare, an influence drawn from a night that seemed to be slipping away from him.
