Result
Manchester City welcomed Real Madrid to the Etihad for the first of two Champions League semi-final ties on Tuesday evening.
The reverse leg takes place in the Spanish capital next week, with the winner expected to face Liverpool in this year’s showpiece.
Man City had most recently faced off with Real in 2020, beating Los Blancos across two Round of 16 ties.
Following Tuesday’s matchup, meanwhile, it looks as though we will be seeing a repeat of that this year with City headed into the second leg 4-3 up.
Manchester City took just two minutes to take the lead on the day. Madrid had hardly touched the ball before Kevin De Bruyne headed in an excellent cross from Riyad Mahrez.
City then added a second just eight minutes later after KDB this time turned provider with Gabriel Jesus poking home a loose ball to hand the home side a major advantage.
Madrid, though, reminded Man City how dangerous they are when Karim Benzema made it 2-1 from a Ferland Mendy cross.
Man City, after missing some big chances, finally found their third goal 52 minutes in when Phil Foden headed in a Fernandinho cross. Yet again, however, Madrid pulled a goal back seemingly out of nothing with Vinicius making an impressive run before slotting past Ederson.
The Citizens would restore their two-goal lead through Bernardo Silva after the Portuguese smashed in an effort after a great advantage from the referee. But just when it looked as though City would take a comfortable into the return fixture, Laporte gave away a penalty, which Benzema scored to make it 4-3.
Manchester City player ratings
Ederson (5.5) – Poor clearance that nearly led to a Madrid equaliser early on. Similarly poor pass 25 minutes in. Didn’t do much wrong for the Real goals, however.
John Stones (5.5) – Looked fairly comfortable despite playing right-back but was taken off after 36 minutes due to injury.
Ruben Dias (7) – Solid display. Made a number of decent interceptions and blocks. Could not do much about Madrid’s goals.
Aymeric Laporte (5) – Should have done better with a one-on-one chance 66 minutes in. Gave away a stupid penalty for Madrid’s third.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (6) – Could have gotten tighter to Benzema when he made it 2-1. Was decent otherwise and his run forward to draw a foul led to Silva’s goal.
Rodri (6) – Did his job well for the most part.
Kevin De Bruyne (8) – Made a very clever run to get on the end of Mahrez’s cross. Excellent ball to Jesus for City’s second. Could have had a second assist after less than half an hour if not for some poor finishing.
Bernardo Silva (7.5) – Solid display from the Portuguese who once again impressed in his deeper midfield role, bringing the ball out well to start Man City attacks. Superb striker for City’s 4th.
Riyad Mahrez (7) – Excellent cross to set up KDB, but should have crossed to Foden when through 26 minutes in - instead he shot on missed. Had another great chance minutes into the second half, but he hit the post, and then again late in the tie.
Gabriel Jesus (6.5) – Got a bit of luck but did well to stab home Man City’s second of the day. Pressed well also.
Phil Foden (7) – Was superb in his free-roaming left-wing role, pressing well and causing Carvajal all sorts of issues but should have made it 3-0 28 minutes in. Good run and header for the Sky Blues’ third later in the match.
Substitutes
Fernandinho (6) – Slotted in well at right-back, producing a pin-point cross for Foden’s goal. However, he did struggle to deal with the pace of Vinicius.
Raheem Sterling (4) – Missed a decent chance to make 5-3.
Real Madrid player ratings
Thibaut Courtois (4) – Didn’t make any huge mistakes but did seem to switch off in the build-up to Silva’s goal.
Dani Carvajal (3) – Poor marking of De Bruyne for the opener. Somewhat made up for it when he cleared a Foden effort off the line but then failed to track the City man when he headed in the Manchester outfit's third.
Eder Militao (3) – Poor defending early in the second half nearly cost Madrid a third goal. Made a number of other mistakes during the match.
David Alaba (3.5) – Poor defending for City’s second goal. Off at half-time, presumably with an injury.
Ferland Mendy (5) – Decent cross for Benzema’s goal. Didn’t have the best game up against Mahrez.
Toni Kroos (5) – Pretty anonymous display from Kroos but it was his free-kick that led to Los Blancos’ penalty.
Luka Modric (5) – Was unable to create that moment of magic Madrid so often look to him for. Off after 78 minutes.
Federico Valverde (4) – Fairly ineffective display, misplacing a number of passes and failing to create much.
Rodrygo (3) – Struggled to have any real impact on the game. Off after 69 minutes.
Karim Benzema (8) – Great finish to make it 2-1 from a tight angle. Excellent Panenka penalty.
Vinicius Junior (7) – Spent much of the first half isolated from his teammates but was able to score a goal out of nothing thanks to his electrifying pace.
Substitutes
Nacho Fernandez (5) – Was the away side's best centre-back on the night, but that's not saying much.
Eduardo Camavinga – Was much more effective than the rest of his midfield counterparts but still unable to provide an assist.
Dani Ceballos (N/A)
Marco Asensio (N/A)
What the experts said
What the fans said
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