The Champions League served us another classic. Below, theScore examines the biggest talking points from Real Madrid’s unlikely victory against Manchester City on Wednesday.

Ancelotti’s subs make the difference

When Real Madrid need a spark, Carlo Ancelotti always looks to his bench. And more often than not, he finds the answer.

For all the talk of Ancelotti’s unyielding loyalty to Madrid’s most tried-and-true players, it’s his willingness to thrust youngsters into the most critical situations that stands out. His substitutions turned the tide against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, and they did the trick again on Wednesday. As he did in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, Ancelotti tapped the shoulders of midfielder Eduardo Camavinga and winger Rodrygo. They delivered, inspiring a late, scarcely believable, 3-1 comeback win over Manchester City.

Camavinga restored order in midfield when he replaced Toni Kroos with Madrid trailing PSG by two goals on aggregate. Los Blancos then scored three goals in 17 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals. The 19-year-old brought the same level of composure off the bench in the quarterfinal second leg against Chelsea, helping Madrid see off the Blues’ comeback attempt.

On Wednesday, Camavinga stretched City’s defense with wonderful balls over the top, offering more creativity than Casemiro and, crucially, setting up the play that led to Rodrygo’s first goal.

Rodrygo himself is 21 years old and in the middle of his third season with Madrid. He hasn’t scored or played often, but when he does, it matters.

The Brazilian sent the match into extra time with the kind of header you’d expect from Karim Benzema: Packed with power and accuracy, it froze goalkeeper Ederson in place, leaving him moored to the ground. Rodrygo forced extra time in the quarterfinals as well, scoring two minutes after replacing Casemiro. Recently, in La Liga, he secured a 3-2 comeback win over Sevilla with a goal and an assist off the bench.

It’s just what he does. Taking after many of Madrid’s great players, Rodrygo has come alive in the business end of the season, scoring six goals in his last six appearances. He had just four in the 79 matches prior to that.

Ancelotti may not give his youngest players all the minutes they deserve – preferring experience from the start – but he values the youth in his squad, and when the going gets tough, there’s nowhere else he’d rather look.

Casemiro to the rescue

“The collective is most important, to move together, to be compact,” Ancelotti said ahead of Wednesday’s extraordinary match, according to Dermot Corrigan of The Athletic. “We have worked on that, improving defensively, and I believe you will see that tomorrow.”

Manchester City created chances – of course – but, for the most part, the Italian tactician was absolutely right. Casemiro was an enormous reason why Real Madrid looked more stout than they did at the Etihad Stadium.

The 30-year-old midfielder has an uncanny ability to avoid bookings for offenses that, committed by literally any other player, would be automatic yellow cards. The Brazilian was arguably lucky to still be on the pitch at halftime after scything down Kevin De Bruyne and then blatantly hauling Phil Foden down by the collar to halt a City attack later on. He was let off the hook by Daniele Orsato for the first challenge, and then, using the oldest trick in the book, expertly weaseled his way out of the second one by feigning injury after pulling the Englishman to the turf.

Some players simply have that nous. Casemiro, who, quite incredibly, wasn’t booked before being replaced in the 75th minute, is at the top of the list.

He also happens to be a brilliant defensive midfielder. It’s not all dark arts – far from it.

There was the usual physicality, which can often cross the line, but there was also the elite shielding of the defense, something that was painfully absent in the first leg with the veteran sidelined by injury. He snapped in when City threatened, intercepted potentially dangerous passes, and instilled calmness in tight spaces when he won the ball back, ensuring that Madrid didn’t simply dump it long and immediately get pinned back again as they did in Manchester a week ago. There were even some cheeky nutmegs thrown in there for good measure.

All of his skills were on display early in the second half, when he won the ball on the edge of his own area, dribbled out of a congested zone with a quick body feint, then put his foot on the ball, scanned the field, and sprayed a pass out wide to launch an attack. His ability to combine all those skills, both diabolical and elegant, makes him one of the game’s true unicorns and a key reason why Real Madrid have enjoyed so much success with him anchoring the vaunted midfield alongside Luka Modric and Kroos.

“If we are going to look (in the market) for a copy of Casemiro, we’ll make a mistake,” Ancelotti said of the Brazilian in January. “There are none in world football. He’s unique.”

Bernardo 2.0

Bernardo Silva twirled and jostled like a fairground bumper car at the Etihad Stadium in 2017; in one run, he willed the ball away from David Silva, used Leroy Sane’s challenge to spring him higher up the pitch, and cheekily poked the ball through Yaya Toure’s legs.

To further underline his credentials to Pep Guardiola, the fleet-footed winger feigned to shoot when he rolled the ball to Kylian Mbappe for AS Monaco’s opening goal in the following month’s second leg. The assist kickstarted Monaco’s famous comeback win to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.

But the player who City signed two months later is vastly different from the one who repeatedly took the pressure off his teammates in the midweek defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu. Rather than a daring wide man – duping opponents with tricks and flicks – Silva has developed into one of Guardiola’s more effective players when his side is under duress.

He was omnipresent for much of normal time, often collecting the ball from a deeper position than defensive midfielder Rodri. He intelligently lured white shirts before wriggling free. His natural technical brilliance – regularly utilized in his own half, unlike his time at Monaco – allowed his team to reorganize and, most importantly, retain possession.

In this area of the pitch, it’s normally a risk for players to use the ball in that manner. But not for Silva.

It’s no coincidence that Rodrygo’s late double occurred after Ilkay Gundogan was called off the bench in the 72nd minute. Gundogan’s inclusion pushed Silva further up the park. Silva teed up Mahrez’s goal soon after that substitution – the strike that appeared to rubber-stamp City’s place in the final – but, with the Portuguese in a more attacking role, City had crucially lost their pressure relief valve.

City’s improvements a long time coming

Manchester City had regrets after the opening fixture. They’d given Real Madrid, the cloaked assassins of European football, life in the tie that they didn’t deserve.

“We started really well and could have killed them off. In these games, we need to take more chances,” Foden said after City’s 4-3 win. “We are playing a side that have won the Champions League many times, and if we give the ball away, they are going to punish us.”

This wasn’t unchartered territory for Guardiola’s regime. A first-leg lead was surrendered to Monaco in 2017, and there was another gut-wrenching loss to Tottenham Hotspur in 2019. The pain from the collapse to Liverpool (2018), tactical mishap against Lyon (2020), and more Pep overthinking in the final with Chelsea (2021) should’ve also added fuel to City’s fire.

It seemed there were no more lessons City could take from a Champions League defeat, which might make this elimination the most painful of all.

A place in the final was right there. Guardiola’s substitutions will be scrutinized, but the most important switches worked. Jack Grealish almost scored twice, while Fernandinho added grit and aerial presence after they were introduced with City two goals ahead. It could be argued that City were just unfortunate, falling victim to the football gods’ insistence on Real Madrid winning, whether they play well or not.

That’s not to say that this latest devastating setback was unavoidable. While their Premier League title rivals, Liverpool, are immaculately balanced with at least two players of almost identical quality for most positions, City’s transfer committee appears content on leaving Guardiola’s squad hamstrung.

For too long, City have relied on out-of-position players to fill the left-back slot, such as No. 6 Fabian Delph, attacking midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko, and right-back Joao Cancelo. The disgraced and oft-injured Benjamin Mendy is the last established left-back that City brought in, and that was five years ago. Re-signing Angelino in 2019 was little more than an experiment gone wrong.

And the most talked-about gap in Guardiola’s roster – a No. 9 – wasn’t filled before this season. The club wasn’t prepared to pursue a different striker when the drawn-out Harry Kane chase spectacularly collapsed.

If City address the simple ways they can improve their squad this summer, it should strike fear in their European and domestic rivals. But right now, it comes as no consolation to their supporters. Those glaring needs should’ve been sorted out a long time ago.

Liverpool withstood Villarreal’s furious comeback bid on Tuesday to reach the Champions League final once again, ultimately coming away with a 5-2 aggregate victory. Below, we dissect the biggest talking points from a thrilling encounter in Spain.

Fighting fire with fire

Villarreal were jittery in last Wednesday’s first leg. Their decision-making and composure were fractured by nerves and, you suspect, by far too much respect for their opponents. Liverpool did exactly what they wanted, which was to punch the Yellow Submarine’s backline with their pneumatic press while Thiago Alcantara coolly conducted play from midfield.

There was perhaps no greater indication of how Tuesday’s first half fared than when Thiago received the ball in midfield in the 26th minute. The Spaniard tidily evaded Etienne Capoue and strode forward. Normally, this would be the start of a Liverpool attack – especially when Thiago is in his best form since he moved to England. But, hurried by the retreating Capoue, Thiago slid the ball out of play for a throw-in.

Villarreal were aggressive and confident. Gerard Moreno linked play in the final third and pulled Liverpool’s defense out of position with his movement. Raul Albiol rolled back the years when he sprinted back to muscle Diogo Jota off the ball during a Liverpool breakaway. Most impressive, though, was how Villarreal unsettled the visitors as a team in the opening period with their harrying and attack-minded play, forcing a complete role reversal from the previous week’s match.

“They scored really early. This gave them confidence, and their fans felt it,” Liverpool midfielder Fabinho told BT Sport post-match. “It was a hard first half for us, maybe (the hardest) of the season.”

But then the roles were reserved once more.

Liverpool’s performance was much improved after the interval, but Villarreal’s apparent willingness to tighten up their lines and attempt to resist their opponents’ attacks was peculiar. Because that’s exactly what went wrong at Anfield.

Boulaye Dia, scorer of the game’s opening goal, touched the ball only three times between halftime and his 80th-minute withdrawal. Villarreal no longer played with risk, as their completed dribbles fell from 11 to four on the other side of halftime. They were suddenly losing most aerial duels. The hosts unsurprisingly attempted no shots in the second half, while Liverpool fired 15 toward their mesh.

It didn’t take long for Villarreal’s superb first-half work to come undone. They were clearly at their best when they fought fire with fire.

Liverpool are human after all

For the first time in recent memory, Liverpool looked twitchy and timid. The first half at El Madrigal was the polar opposite of everything we’ve come to expect from this edition of Jurgen Klopp’s team.

So often the aggressors, Liverpool played on the back foot. So often assured and controlled in possession, they were erratic. Passes went astray, defensive assignments were blown, the full-backs weren’t getting forward, and the midfield was being overrun. Villarreal, spurred on by a thunderous home crowd that roared when Dia opened the scoring after just three minutes, had the Reds rattled.

Even Thiago, a Rolls-Royce of a midfielder who always appears in control of the situation, was unsettled; the visitors’ passing accuracy in the first half was only 66%. Liverpool, damn near invincible this season, looked human for once.

Until they didn’t.

Aided by the halftime introduction of Luis Diaz, Liverpool heeded Klopp’s request for more movement off the ball. They started to whip the ball around, break defensive lines, and create chances. Normal service resumed, and in just 12 second-half minutes, the home team’s comeback bid had crumbled.

“We made it pretty tricky for ourselves. We knew before, these kind of things can happen,” Klopp said after the match. “In life, it’s always about how you react when things don’t go your way.”

Liverpool, who had only trailed for a total of 69 minutes in 2022 before Tuesday’s match, have largely had it all go their way this season. This was a perfect test at the perfect time – more for internal belief than anything else. Every great team needs to be prodded and examined like this at some point on the path to success.

Liverpool took a huge blow, recovered, and hit right back. It turns out Klopp’s vaunted “mentality monsters” never left. They just needed someone to push them to the limit.

Rulli unravels

Geronimo Rulli got away with it at Anfield. His flaps and poor timing went unpunished, and he didn’t deserve blame for conceding from Jordan Henderson’s cross following a heavy deflection off Pervis Estupinan.

But the Villarreal goalkeeper was out of luck in the second leg.

Rulli did his best hologram impression for Liverpool’s first two goals, letting both Fabinho’s shot and Diaz’s header slip through his body and into the net. He was most at fault for Fabinho’s effort, with his feverish hop to his right and back again inviting the Brazilian to shoot. Rulli managed to unsettle himself with his own footwork.

The 29-year-old was determined to rectify the situation. He was the hero of the prior campaign’s Europa League final against Manchester United, scoring his side’s 11th penalty in the shootout and then saving fellow netminder David De Gea’s subsequent take. It was time for him to step up again.

And he did step up, albeit about 30 yards too far.

(Courtesy: @RMCsport)

Rulli’s effort to thwart Sadio Mane’s run onto a punted ball was his desperation summed up in a few erratic seconds. The Senegalese frontman easily tapped the ball beyond the goalkeeper’s outstretched leg and eventually finished into an open net, but the sheer mindlessness of the error diverted attention from Rulli’s most unacceptable lapse in the whole move.

Juan Foyth did all he could to stop Mane. He excellently anticipated the Liverpool attacker’s touch to avoid Rulli and was unlucky to not intercept the ball. He then attempted a slide tackle and sprung up again, sprinting back in the hope that he would block Mane’s shot.

Rulli, meanwhile, was jogging. He’d already given up.

It was a sorry way for Villarreal’s miraculous Champions League run to end.