Real Madrid vs Man City
Champions League semi-finals rarely disappoint, especially when they are played at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid vs Man City, did exactly what you would have expected, Entertain with brilliance.
Two Superb goals one from Vinicius Junior and the other from Kevin De Bruyne either side of half-time meant that spoils were shared at Santiago Bernabeu during an epic champions league game.
The tie sets up what promises to be an all-time great Champions League semi-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium next week.
Guardiola knows the tie is the balance and issued a rallying call to the troops and fans to make the Etihad as hostile as possible.
Match analysis – The game reviewed
Man City started the game brightly, building pressure and momentum from the kick-off causing Real Madrid to look surprisingly nervy in possession.
Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri both forced Thibaut Courtois into early saves with strikes from out of the penalty area before some neat play on the flank from Jack Grealish would culminate in the England international finding Erling Haaland unmarked at the back post with a dinked cross. Haaland’s subsequent header, however, was right down the throat of Courtois, who gathered it comfortably.
Madrid however, showed their experience and quality, didn’t panic, and in the 25th minute when they were able to steal the ball off Rodri in the final third they pounced.
Against the run of play, when Vinicius provided a moment of sheer brilliance for Los Blancos. A wonderful sweeping move involving Luka Modric and Eduadro Camavinga culminated in the French starlet finding Vinicius 20 yards from goal. After controlling with his first touch, Vinicius unleashed a thunderous effort on goal which flew past Ederson and into the top left corner of the net.
This led to a period of domination for the Real Madrid team, City were stunned and they needed the half-time break.
The second half started in the same way, despite being thoroughly outplayed and seemingly out of ideas for the next 15 minutes, it’d be City who’d bag the next goal through De Bruyne.
After being teed up by Ilkay Gundogan, the midfielder placed the ball brilliantly into the bottom left corner of the net with a first-time strike from 20 yards out. Perfect technique from basically the perfect footballer.
After that, both teams came close but neither took the advantage. As the game stands level after the first leg.
More of that to come at the Eithad in a fortnight.
The reaction from the Champions league Semi-final - first leg
Real Madrid player ratings vs Man City
Real Madrid player ratings vs Man City are taken as an average of their performance and the inputs from our live twitter coverage.
GK – Thibaut Courtois – 6/10 – Made a brilliant save to deny De Bruyne at the start of the second half.
RB – Dani Carvajal – 6/10 – Had a bit of a kicking and shoving match with Grealish for 90 minutes; something which suited Real Madrid more than it suited Man City.
CB – Antonio Rudiger – 7/10 – Matched Haaland physically.
CB – David Alaba – 6/10 – Pulled of a great tackle at the start of the second half. There was a reason Haaland didn’t really go to his side too often.
LB – Eduardo Camavinga – 8/10 – Worked hard defensively and provided a lung-bursting run which led to the opening goal at the other end.
CM – Federico Valverde – 6/10 – Played a deeper-than-usual role and it did well.
CM – Toni Kroos – 5/10 – Decent on the ball but not quite got the legs anymore.
CM – Luka Modric – 8/10 – Another stunning performance from the 37-year-old.
RW – Rodrygo – 3/10 – He didn’t do a massive amount to be honest.
ST – Karim Benzema – 6/10 – His clever movement caused Man City’s defence a whole host of problems.
LW – Vinicius Junior – 9/10 – Scored a sublime goal. Truly sublime. Man City couldn’t get near him all evening.
Man City player ratings vs Real Madrid – UCL
Man City player ratings vs Real Madrid from yesterday’s Champions League semi-final first leg.
GK – Ederson – 6/10 – Made good saves to deny Benzema and Tchouameni late on.
CB – Kyle Walker – 4/10 – Drafted in to go toe-to-toe with Vinicius. It’s fair to say Vinicius got the better of him.
CB – Ruben Dias – 6/10 – Pulled off a stunning, goal-saving, clearance in the 25th minute.
CB – Manuel Akanji – 6/10 – Pocketed Rodrygo for most of the game.
DM – John Stones – 6/10 – Worked his socks off to fill in the gaps defensively.
DM – Rodri – 6/10 – Had a few ropey moments in possession but battled hard out of it.
RM – Bernardo Silva – 4/10 – Not quite as effective as he was in the quarter-final first leg.
CM – Kevin De Bruyne – 9/10 – Scored a superb goal when City looked devoid of ideas.
CM – Ilkay Gundogan – 6/10 – Teed up KDB for the equaliser.
LM – Jack Grealish – 2/10 – He let Carvajal get the better of him on the night. A poor outing at both ends of the pitch.
ST – Erling Haaland – 4/10 – Rudiger and Alaba kept him eerily quiet.