Mesut Ozil says Real Madrid are the ‘big favourites’ to go on and lift this year’s Champions League trophy after the side’s dramatic penalty shootout victory over holders Manchester City.

Rodrygo struck 12 minutes into Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg – following on from a pulsating 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu – to put Madrid in the driving seat in Manchester.

Kevin De Bruyne, so often City’s hero and talisman, capitalised on a weak clearance from Antonio Rudiger to take the match to extra-time, where the two teams could not be separated, meaning the tie had to be decided via a penalty shootout.

Pep Guardiola’s men, last year’s treble winners, appeared on course for the semi-finals after Luka Modric missed his penalty, but Andriy Lunin denied both Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic before Rudiger converted the decisive spot-kick to send Madrid’s away fans into raptures.

After a pair of crucial league games with Barcelona and Real Sociedad, Carlo Ancelotti’s men take to the field for the first leg of what promises to be an intriguing clash with Bayern Munich on April 30.

In this year’s other semi-final, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund will do battle after overturning first-leg deficits against Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively to progress in the competition.

Asked what he made of Wednesday’s clash at the Etihad, former Madrid star Ozil told Marca: ‘It was a fantastic fight. City showed why nobody wants to play against them. They dominated the game most of the time… if not all of it.

‘But Madrid was very intelligent, as always. They defended very well.

‘I shouted, “Hala Madrid!”, after Toni Rudiger’s penalty, so you can imagine how I experienced it. It was very exciting.

‘I think that now Real Madrid is the big favourite. I trust that they can win the Champions League.’

Ozil has been blown away by Jude Bellingham’s debut season in Madrid, though feels the England sensation has showed signs of fatigue in recent weeks.

‘His first half of the season was incredible and left everyone speechless,’ the ex-Arsenal midfielder said.

‘The last few weeks he has seemed a little tired, but if he wins La Liga, the Champions League and Euro 2024 then he could be a candidate for the Ballon d’Or.

‘He is still very young, it’s incredible.’

Ozil believes Madrid centre-back Rudiger – his former team-mate with Germany – deserves enormous credit for the way he dealt with Erling Haaland in Manchester.

‘He is enjoying a world-class season. I mean… which defender has played a better season in Europe than him? He was also the difference in the games against Manchester City,’ Ozil continued.

‘He didn’t play in the second leg last season from the beginning and they lost 0-4.

‘In this week’s match at the Etihad, Haaland was always looking for Nacho to avoid getting into any duel with Toni! That is all you need to know.

‘Haaland is also world-class, make no mistake. But Toni’s mentality is incredible.’

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