“Not even hiding the rigging anymore” – Fans in disbelief as UEFA post winner of Real Madrid vs Man City hours before second leg kick-off
UEFA posted that Real Madrid will face Inter Milan in the Champions League final hours before their semi-final clash against Manchester City on Wednesday, May 17. Fans online were in disbelief after seeing the post.
The Madrid giants are set to take on the Cityzens in their second-leg semi-final clash at the Etihad on Wednesday. The first leg between the two sides ended in a 1-1 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu. Hence, there is all to play for in the second leg.
UEFA, though, listed Los Blancos as the winners of the tie ahead of the game in a social medai. Fans reacted to the bizarre announcement with one of them writing on Twitter:
"You lot not even hiding the rigging anymore."
Checkout UEFA's deleted tweet:
Here are some of the best reactions across Twitter after UEFA made a dodgy post ahead of Manchester City vs. Real Madrid:
UEFA also posted a similar post which showed Manchester City facing Inter Milan in the final. Both tweets have been deleted now.
Meanwhile, in the semis, with a win tonight, Real Madrid can reach the final of the competition for the second time in a row. They are the defending champions of the competition and can win their 15th overall title this year. Manchester City, meanwhile, are in the search for their first UEFA Champions League title.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti spoke about stopping Manchester City ace Erling Haaland
Real Madrid did a fantastic job in stopping Manchester City attacker Erling Haaland in the first leg at the Bernabeu. The Norwegian has been in prolific form this season, scoring 52 goals across competitions in 48 games.
However, Los Blancos managed to neutralize him to a great degree during the first leg. Speaking about his team's plans in the second leg to stop Haaland, Carlo Ancelotti told the media ahead of the Etihad showdown (via Los Blancos' website):
“In the first leg we were outstanding in the way we played the ball out from the back and it was difficult for them to win it back. That will also be an important factor tomorrow. Having more of the ball means less risk defensively. When we assess a team, we don't just assess one player."
He added:
"We have to approach the game well defensively. With my coaching staff, we figured that if they have to score, they should score early and that way we have more time to recover.”
Antonio Rudiger did a great job in dealing with the attacker in the first leg. The German, however, is not a part of the starting XI for the second leg.