To think, the Manchester City dangerman barely had a meaningful kick against Real Madrid in Tuesday’s thrilling Champions League quarter-final at the Santiago Bernabeu. That is, of course, until he did.
With 66 minutes on the clock, and with Real 2-1 ahead thanks to a pair of quick-fire deflected strikes from Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrygo, Phil Foden produced an almost carbon-copy finish of his explosive strike in the Manchester derby a month ago.
Cutting inside onto his left boot, the Manchester City academy graduate lashed a thumping strike into the top corner. Andriy Lunin, the Real goalkeeper, could have been a foot taller and he’d have still struggled to reach it, a postage-stamp shot from a man who is starting to make this kind of Arjen Robben-esque, left-footed blockbusters something of a personal trademark.
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“Perhaps it was one of the best matches in the history of the Champions League,” Alessandro Del Piero, the Juventus legend, tells Sky Italia. “For the level of play, for the beauty of the goals.
“When there are matches of such great importance, we tend to (take few risks) but instead we saw two teams facing each other head-on. This match needs to be replayed many times throughout the week.”
Bernardo Silva opened the scoring in the Spanish capital inside just two minutes, catching out Lunin at his near post with an ingenous free-kick. Josko Gvardiol and Fede Valverde then traded stunners of their own after Foden had drawn Pep Guardiola’s side level, the former opening his City account with his weaker boot from distance before the latter drilled in a typically fizzing long-range effort.
For Del Piero, however, it was Foden’s – his 22nd of a career-best campaign – which really stuck in the mind.
“(Foden) has incredible qualities,” smiles arguably the greatest Italian footballer of his generation, and a Champions League winner in 1996.
“Pep trains you to do this and, if you’re at City, it means you’re good enough to do this. But then, in that goal, there’s a bit of a summary of his qualities.
“He’s bold and wise.”
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Man City, who battered Real Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League semi-finals last year, will face off again at the Etihad on April 17th.
And it was the comments Foden made post-match which maybe put the biggest smile of all on the faces of those City supporters, the 23-year-old confirming that the injury which forced him off late on was nothing more than a ‘dead leg’.
“For the fans, it must have been one of the best games you could have possibly watched. Two great teams with possibly the best attackers in the world going head-to-head,” Foden, fresh of his hat-trick against Aston Villa last midweek, tells TNT Sports and the UEFA website.
“It’s what the fans want to see, with plenty of goals as well.
“Sometimes you score a bit too early. They responded really well with two quick goals and we had to settle again. I thought we grew into the game, especially in the second half. I was really happy to make the most of one of my chances. It is a fantastic result to come here and get a draw.”
“I felt a great feeling when I scored that goal because it’s something I practice a lot in training. I focus a lot on shots from the edge of the area.”
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