8 takeaways from Real Madrid’s win over their city rivals to clinch UEFA CL final spot

The UEFA Champions League final is set! Spanish giants, Real Madrid secured an early onslaught from City rivals, Atletico Madrid, but
was able to hold them to a 2-1 loss to ultimately advance, on 4-2 aggregate.

They will, therefore, face Juventus at Cardiff in Wales but first, let's look at some takeaways from this semi final encounter.

1. Madrid's tifo last week seems to have struck a chord

With regards to Real Madrid's tifo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium — which read; Tell me how it feels? flanking the UEFA Champions League trophy. 

In the previous European meeting at the Vicente Calderon, the Atletico Madrid faithful unfurled their pre match tifo to say; Proud of not being like you.

2. The tackles were flying hard and fast

Even though it was a Madrid derby and the stakes included a trip to Cardiff for the UEFA Champions League final, the players were always going to be juiced up.

 Madrid team responded in kind, with Danilo giving a serious tackle to Filipe Luis which resulted in a yellow card.

Few minutes into the game we had our first warning, and 2 minutes later Atletico player, Stefan Savic was giving a yellow.

This caution did not discourage the rough and aggressive play from both teams. The rough play continued as a whopping 5 cards were shown out in the first half alone.

3. Atletico Madrid came out as expected.

Down by 3 goals, Atletico Madrid was expected to score and quickly as well but Atletico did just that. Saul Niguez got the hosts their 1st goal in the 12th minute with a scalded header from a corner.

A few minutes later, Raphael Varane clipped Fernando in the 18yard box for a clear penalty, which Griezmann converted with ease.

Atletico got the start they needed in just over 15 minutes.

4. Karim Benzema pulled a surprise

With Atletico firmly in a comfortable lead, Real Madrid was looking for some kind of a quick relief before the first half of the games ends and this relief came from no other person than Benzema.

The crucial away goal from Karim Benzema took the air out of the stadium and Real Madrid had a magic moment to thank Benzema for it.

5. The intensity slowed in 2nd half

It would have been a fantastic game if the intensity of the first half was replicated in the second half, but that wasn't the case.

When the visitors scored, Atletico needed three more unanswered goals to book their place in the final at Cardiff. In essence, it was a lost cause.

The fans tried their best to remain hopeful and there were flashes of brilliance from both teams, but Real Madrid seemed much more content to keep the wind out of solving the problems from their city rivals.

6. Keylor Navas deserve an ice pack

Even though the tie was pretty much decided already, Real Madrid keylor Navas was bound and determined to keep Atletico Madrid down.

 Carrasco fired a rocket that Navas parried away, then Navas kept Kevin Gameiro's follow-up attempt out. The shot from Gameiro looked like it might have even knocked Madrid keeper but he doesn't care.

7. Real Madrid didn't even need Ronaldo

After reducing the Madrid burden in the first leg with a hat trick, Cristiano Ronaldo did not need to be his usual self in the second league. It was not for a lack of effort, definitely, CR7 would've loved to add to his Uefa Champions League goal-scoring records.

Even without a goal or assist or any tangible influence on the game, the win will still be attributed to the Portuguese superstar.

8. Could this be the end of Diego Simeone?

Diego Simeone has a mutual symbiotic relationship with Atletico but it might be time to part company. Certainly, Atletico would love to keep Simeone around, but after years of near misses in Europe, this could just be the end of Simeone at Atletico.