Manchester City topple Real Madrid 4-0 to bag ticket for Champions League Final in Istanbul

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Manchester City eliminated Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate Wednesday to face Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League Final in Istanbul.

Manchester City opened the scoring in the semifinal second leg when Bernardo Silva made a close-range finish in the 23rd minute.

Kevin De Bruyne assisted the Portuguese midfielder at the City of Manchester Stadium.

The Sky Blues doubled their lead after Silva scored with a perfectly timed header in the 37th minute as the first half ended 2-0.

Manuel Akanji powered home a header to give City a 3-0 lead in the 76th minute and Julian Alvarez smashed a right-footed finish into the bottom corner from the penalty area in stoppage time.

"It's a beautiful night for us. We knew it was going to be tough, but to beat this Madrid team 4-0 at home…It's a wonderful feeling to be in the final again. Hopefully, this time we can win it," Silva, who was named Player of the Match, said after the game.

On Tuesday, Inter Milan advanced to the Champions League final after securing a 3-0 aggregate win over arch-rivals AC Milan in the semifinals.

The final will take place at Istanbul's Ataturk Olympic Stadium on June 10.

Manchester City marched into the final for the second time in three seasons as Chelsea got the better of them with a narrow win in the 2021 final at Estadio do Dragao in Porto.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who took charge of his 191st match with this game, broke legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson's record as the manager with the most Champions League matches.