Photo by Federico Titone/Anadolu via Getty Images

Real Madrid gave it their all at the Etihad, and got what they wanted in incredible fashion. Real Madrid have done it once again.
They?ve somehow beaten Manchester City on penalties after a gut-wrenching quarter-finals tie, and now are the favorites to win the Champions League for the 15th time. It?s not over, of course, they?ve yet to face Bayern Munich, and possibly PSG / Dortmund, but it?s Real Madrid?s title to lose now.
12 Champions League semi-final appearances in the last 14 is incredible, no matter which way you look at it or how biased you are.
People have since come out and said Real Madrid?s performance defensively wasn?t all that, and they got through to the semis through ?luck?. I disagree. I think this was, collectively, one of the best defensive performances from Real Madrid in a long time. Yes, they struggled ? especially in the second half ? but they still only conceded one, and that was because the entire team was committed to one single motive: victory. The defensive resilience and patience this team showed against Manchester City would?ve been outrageous to play against, it was gut-wrenching to watch, but it definitely felt like something to be proud of when Antonio Rudiger scored the winning penalty. It felt relieving. It calmed everything down and, at the same time, let all hell break loose in terms of celebrations. Every player did his job and put a shift in defensively. The de...