Page 2 - Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points as Pep Guardiola's Citizens eliminate Los Blancos

#3 Golden boys Foden and Rodrygo start, but how did they fare?

Manchester City talent Foden tussling with Varane, where he began in an unfamiliar false nine role

Given their age and relative inexperience in big games like these, it's easy to forget both youngsters have earned this leap of faith by their respective managers.

Phil Foden, for example, has been excellent for Manchester City since the Premier League resumed in mid-June.

Meanwhile, Rodrygo continues to show his eagerness and capability to battle for a starting spot as part of a Real Madrid side stacked with attacking options.

In the first-half, Foden was playing in an unfamiliar false nine role as Jesus - their first-leg catalyst - again operated down the left-hand side. It was an awkward position for the creative midfielder, who ran a lot out of possession while trying to get on the ball where possible to take advantage of the visitors' sloppy start.

He flashed a promising shot wide and looked threatening upon occasion, though Rodrygo only needed a moment's notice to showcase why he started ahead of Isco and Marco Asensio against Manchester City here.

Exposing Joao Cancelo's poor positioning, he accelerated past him as if the Portuguese was a mannequin before delivering a pinpoint cross into the box. Benzema made no mistake with a well-placed header in-between Rodri and Fernandinho, so suddenly after their lacklustre start, Real were alive again.

Benzema celebrates his goal against Manchester City with Rodrygo, who left Cancelo for dead beforehand

As previously mentioned, their inability to capitalise on such moments proved costly as time wore on - but Rodrygo couldn't be blamed for lack of effort and made Cancelo's defensive duties much harder than he would have hoped for.

He only had 19 touches before being replaced on the hour mark by Asensio, who Zidane felt could offer more in the latter stages.

One key pass aside, the Spanish playmaker was average at best from the bench - though Manchester City took control shortly after his arrival.

In the second half, Pep made tactical tweaks which saw Jesus playing more through the middle and Foden reverting to a more comfortable midfield role.

He combined with Gundogan to help create the aforementioned Sterling chance, while showing intelligent movement and awareness in tight spaces when looking to link-up with de Bruyne near the edge of the box.

Just like Rodrygo, Foden also didn't last the full 90 - Manchester City's versatile midfielder Bernardo Silva replaced him with little more than 20 minutes to play.

However, neither did their blossoming reputations any harm during an entertaining match that Manchester City came out on top in.

#2 Manchester City's intense press forces mistakes, Real wilt under pressure

Casemiro (middle) was error-prone and struggled in challenges against a tenacious Manchester City display

A lot will be said about Varane's disasterclass performance here, but to single him out as the sole reason for Real Madrid's demise would be disingenuous.

They were all poor in the first half, but not by accident: Manchester City took the game to their visitors with relentless pressing, when it should have been the other way around.

Of all outfield starters, no player recorded a worse passing percentage than Casemiro's 74% (29/39 complete). He was dribbled past on three occasions, ponderous in possession and didn't command respect as Real's midfield lynchpin.

Toni Kroos started slowly but did okay as things progressed, while there were times when you forgot Luka Modric was on the pitch. Collectively, they didn't do enough to protect a backline that was missing its leader, and this was obvious.

Manchester City relentlessly pressed Real Madrid

Varane will get the blame for a heavy touch in the build-up for Sterling's opener, but Courtois put him in a world of trouble, to begin with - passing backwards. Militao was nervy at times but recovered well, though the same couldn't be said for Ferland Mendy either, who has been largely impressive for Real this season.

Manchester City's pressing from the front caused this. Jesus' dogged persistence to seek out mistakes, Sterling's situational awareness and Foden's hard running did the trick in making Real uncomfortable, second-guessing their distribution.

As the latter came off after 67 minutes, just before Jesus' goal, a graphic displayed his distance covered in comparison to his teammates. Foden had run 9.21km during the game to that point, in contrast to a team-average of 7.74km.

Real conceded two easily preventable goals here, but Manchester City deserve credit for the way they forced such mistakes and should've had more too.

#1 Stark contrast between Varane and Militao in Ramos' absence

Militao, Real's best player here, in a sprint trying to dispossess Manchester City's de Bruyne in transition

When previewing this match, it was essential to highlight how Real coped with Ramos' absence through suspension against Manchester City.

This is a team who, sure, endured a dismal Premier League title defence in 2019-20, but still managed to score goals for fun across all competitions.

So how would the Varane-Militao central defensive pairing fare against top attacking opposition? With Sergio Aguero missing this tie through injury and Riyad Mahrez an unused substitute, they should reign supreme right? Wrong.

It's easy to forget that Ramos, who turned 34 in March, also has his defensive shortcomings. Jesus made him look ordinary at the Bernabeu in March, he was frequently out of position and needed to make last-ditch interceptions too often.

He was sent off late on, after committing a last-man challenge as Manchester City broke through in search of a late third that would have virtually ended the tie. Varane, a World Cup winner and five years Militao's senior, was outshone by the Brazilian and not just because he didn't make two glaring errors leading to goals.

Varane endured an evening to forget, involved in both Manchester City goals in their second-leg loss

They both started shakily, but while one recovered, the other wilted under pressure and made mistakes that would have been lambasted in a non-league game.

Varane made three clearances, one block and interception here. The first error was the result of good pressing and a poor decision by Courtois, but the second? It looks even worse with each replay. After being put under pressure by his goalkeeper in the first half, why not just head the ball out? Or better yet, clear his lines altogether?

By contrast, Militao was impressive and kept busy as Real were progressively on the offensive to reduce areas after Benzema's equaliser. With four clearances and tackles, five blocked shots, two interceptions and nine of 11 duels won, he showed exactly the type of performance you'd expect Varane to have deliver in Ramos' absence.

He was unafraid to make mistakes and instead took them in his stride, with two powerful galloping runs up the pitch to push teammates forward.