Manchester City scored a thrilling but disappointing 4-3 victory over Real Madrid on Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg of the European Champions League semi-finals.
The second leg will take place next week at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in the Spanish capital.
crazy start
And less than 93 seconds later, City opened the scoring with their Belgian playmaker Kevin de Bruyne with a header, taking advantage of an individual effort on the right flank and a skillful pass from Mahrez, beating Real Madrid defender Daniel Carvajal and blocking him on the right. Belgian goalkeeper Thibault Courtois. This is City’s fastest goal in the history of their participation in the Champions League.
And City soon added a second goal after De Bruyne’s pass into the penalty area, Austrian David Alaba made a mistake in dispersing him, and he reached the attacking Jesus, who turned around and hit the net from close range (10).
The Citizens almost scored the third goal after a quick counter-attack, in which the ball reached Mahrez, who entered the box and shot with a powerful right hand, hitting the post and flying out (26).
City still had chances, and from a similar attack, De Bruyne gave an elegant pass to Phil Foden, who shot, crawling past the right post of goalkeeper Courtois (29).
The Royals then closed the gap when French left-back Ferland Mendy fired a cross into the box and Benzema wobbled into the net (33).
high tide
City’s pressure paid off when Brazil’s Fernandinho, who replaced injured defender John Stones in the first half, lifted the ball into the box, followed by Foden’s head into the net from close range (53).
However, City didn’t enjoy it for long, as Brazil’s Vinicius Junior put in a lot of individual effort when he single-handedly stepped out of the middle of the field and was alone with his compatriot goalkeeper Ederson and shot from the left, closing the margin again (55).
But City refused to score another goal when the Portuguese Bernardo Silva launched a rocket from the left-hand corner, and Courtois stood like a spectator, hugging his goal (74).
But the excitement did not end, as the referee awarded a penalty in favor of “Real” after touching the ball by the defender of the “townspeople” Aymeric Laporte, which Benzema transferred to the “panenkov” way, reducing the difference to 3-4.
Real Madrid are aiming to reach the final for the 17th time in their history, while City want to reach the top level match for the second time after losing the final against their compatriot Chelsea 0-1 last year.
