Real Madrid's Champions League hoodoo was broken, finally, by borderline perfection.
It was banished to the past, into lore, by the one team capable of banishing it and by the club who'd previously been victimized by it. Manchester City, after years of inexplicable failure, finally toppled the kings of Europe on Wednesday and moved to within 90 minutes of a maiden continental title.
City stormed past Madrid in a semifinal second leg that ended 4-0 — and even that undersold the Cityzens' dominance. They have — for years under Pep Guardiola — come closer than anybody to mastering modern soccer, and Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium, they came closer than ever before.