MOSCOW, May 5. The Spanish football club «Real» beat the English «Manchester» City» in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final and reached the final of the tournament. The meeting, held in Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, ended in extra time with a score of 3: 1 in favor of the hosts. Riyad Mahrez scored against the guests in the 73rd minute, becoming the first player in the club's history to score seven or more goals in one Champions League season. Rodrigo scored twice for Real Madrid (90, 90+1). Another goal was scored by Karim Benzema (95, penalty). Rodrigo became the first player in the history of the Champions League playoffs, who managed to score a double after the 89th minute. Benzema scored his 10th playoff goal this season and equaled former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo's record set in 2017. Also, the Frenchman came out on top in the «goal + pass» system in the current Champions League draw. He has 17 effective actions to his credit. The first match, held in Manchester, ended with a score of 4:3 in favor of the English club. Thus, «Real» for the 17th time in its history reached the final of the Champions League. The head coach of the Madrid club Carlo Ancelotti became the first specialist to reach five finals of the main European club tournament. He beat Marcello Lippi, Alex Ferguson and Jurgen Klopp (4). In the Champions League final, which will be held in Paris on May 28, Real will play Liverpool. The teams will meet for the third time in the final match of the tournament. In the 1981 final in the French capital, the English club beat the opponent 1-0. In 2018, Real Madrid won in Kyiv — 3: 1. Initially, the Champions League final was planned to be held in St. Petersburg, but in February, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) decided to postpone the match.
