Champions League 2016: Real Madrid tame Manchester City to book final against Atletico

[Guest Nicole]

Real Madrid reached their 14th European Cup final and ended Manchester City's hopes of a maiden title after securing a 1-0 victory in the second leg of their Champions League last four clash on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

Zinedine Zidane's side will face city rivals Atletico in the final for the second time in three seasons after a first-half own goal from Fernando was enough to secure a narrow win that barely reflected Real's dominant display.

After last week's goalless first leg stalemate, Madrid, chasing a record-extending 11th European title, opened the scoring after 20 minutes when Gareth Bale's cross was deflected into the top corner by the City defender.

The victory opened the door for Real Madrid boss Zidane to end his first season at the club with club football's most coveted prize, while ending City manager Manuel Pellegrini's hopes of signing off from the club with European silverware.

City had made a bright start but their early momentum was halted in its tracks as captain and centre back Vincent Kompany was forced off with a muscle injury after nine minutes, handing the initiative to the hosts, who quickly went on the offensive.

City looked slightly overawed as they handed territory to Real Madrid who punished them when Bale picked up Dani Carvajal's pass and aimed a cross towards the far post that was deflected by Fernando past Joe Hart into the top corner.

The linesman's flag prevented City falling further behind when Pepe stabbed into the net only for his effort to be ruled out for offside, while City's only glimpse of goal in the first half came when Fernandinho's effort clipped the post.

Madrid continued to dominate after the break, but found a second goal elusive as Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo failed to convert chances, while Bale's header hit the crossbar.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/champions-league-2016-real-madrid-tame-manchester-city-to-book-final-against-atletico-20160504-gomlyf.html

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The UEFA Champions League, known simply as the Champions League, is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champion (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of each UEFA national association. The final of the 2012–13 tournament was the most watched UEFA Champions League final to date, as well as the most watched annual sporting event worldwide in 2013, drawing 360 million television viewers.

Introduced in 1992, the competition replaced the European Champion Clubs' Cup, or simply European Cup, which had run since 1955, adding a group stage to the competition and allowing multiple entrants from certain countries.[2] The pre-1992 competition was initially a straight knockout tournament open only to the champion club of each country. During the 1990s, the format was expanded, incorporating a round-robin group stage to include clubs that finished runner-up of some nations' top level league.[2] While most of Europe's national leagues can still only enter their national league champion, Europe's strongest national leagues now provide up to four teams for the competition,[3] and will provide up to five teams from the 2015–16 season onwards.[4] Clubs that finish next-in-line in each nation's top level league, having not qualified for the UEFA Champions League competition, may be eligible for the next level UEFA Europa League competition.

In its present format, the UEFA Champions League begins in mid-July with three knockout qualifying rounds and a play-off round. The 10 surviving teams enter the group stage, joining 22 other teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round-robin system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in May.[5] The winner of the UEFA Champions League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Real Madrid is the most successful club in the competition's history, having won the tournament ten times, including its first five seasons. Spanish clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories (15 wins), followed by England and Italy (12 wins apiece). The competition has been won by 22 different clubs, 12 of which have won it more than once.[8] Since the tournament changed name and structure in 1992, no club has managed consecutive wins; Milan were the last holders to successfully defend their title, in the 1989–90 season.[9] The reigning champions were Barcelona, who secured their fifth title in the competition after defeating Juventus 3–1 in the 2015 Final.

- WIkipedia