Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-3 in a spectacular UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg tie on Tuesday night. It was a breathtaking display of football at its finest in which we’ve seen two world-class teams play their hearts out. In the end, Pep Guardiola’s team has a one-goal lead ahead of the return match in Madrid, but they will feel slightly annoyed that they haven’t been able to get a better result. The sky blues gained a two-goal lead three times, only to allow the Royal Club to punish their mistakes and reduce the deficit.It was one of those glamorous Champions League knock-out games that you expect to be cagey, but thankfully it was anything but. Attacking football on either side, goals, chances, fantastic pieces of skill from some of the best players in the world – this game had everything!FTManchester City 4-3 Real MadridThis is a game that City would have scored so many goals but their wastefulness means that the tie is still alive.The second leg is in a week’s time at the Spanish Capital. #UCL pic.twitter.com/1YTSHH3yBa— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) April 26, 2022 In these games, it’s more important how you end them than how you start them – we’ve seen that many times. But can you imagine the joy of the home fans when Kevin De Bruyne headed in from Riyad Mahrez’s cross just 95 seconds into the match?It’s hard to believe that a team of Real Madrid’s experience would allow themselves to start such an important match so slowly and be stunned by an early conceded goal. Still, it was apparent that the Spanish side was having problems stamping their authority on the game.Manchester City have beaten Real Madrid three times in a row for the first time in the club’s history. #UCL— Squawka (@Squawka) April 26, 2022 David Alaba, in particular, was looking shaky as he missed the opportunity to deal with a De Bruyne cross in his box. Gabriel Jesus was on hand to snatch the ball, turn expertly and side-foot past Thibaut Courtois to double the lead with barely 10 minutes on the clock. The Belgian has made more saves than any other goalkeeper in the UCL group stage, but he had no chance with either of the goals.City looked hungry and dangerous, ready to go for the knock-out against the groggy opponent. De Bruyne, Foden and Mahrez were using every chance to hit the visitors on the counter-attack and add the third goal.ACL2022: Olunga on a brace as Duhail thump SepahanIn the middle of the Citizens’ attacks, Carlo Ancelotti’s team showed that there is still life in them after all. They started to pass the ball a bit better, and quickly they got the reward. Luka Modric recovered the ball with a terrific sliding tackle and allowed Ferland Mendy some time to steady himself and cross the ball into the heart of the area. And there – Madrid’s saviour was waiting. Benzema finished with a left-footed volley that went beyond Ederson and nestled in the net via the post. A sublime finish to get Los Blancos back into the game.As the half-time whistle blew, the visiting fans were louder. They’ve seen their team come back so many times this season, and they fully believed that it would happen again – especially after surviving 45 minutes that felt like they could have gone 4-0 behind.FT: MAN CITY 4-3 REAL MADRIDAND BREATHE. pic.twitter.com/NByxDCCrk6— B/R Football (@brfootball) April 26, 2022 Those travelling supporters were nearly silenced once more after the restart, though, then Mahrez curled a lovely effort off the far post and onto the foot of Foden. However, Dani Carvajal was well-positioned on the line to clear and save his team – but not for long!City’s captain Fernandinho, who only came on from the bench to replace the injured John Stones at right-back, won the ball and delivered a pinpoint cross onto the head of Phil Foden, who only had to nod and beat Courtois for the third time.Once again, Los Blancos were staring into the eyes of a two-goal deficit, and again they responded by scoring. Vinicius Junior sped past his compatriot Fernandinho and slotted past another Brazilian Ederson to make it 3-2.It’s hard to pick the best goal, but we’ll probably have to go with Bernardo Silva’s amazing strike to make it 4-2. The Portuguese midfielder struck an unstoppable left-footer high into the near corner to send the home fans crazy. For the third time, City were holding a two-goal lead. And for the third time the visitors came back. Aymeric Laporte handled in the box and gave Benzema a chance to score from the spot. Sure enough, the Frenchman netted his 41st goal of the season.City fans were visibly annoyed about only winning by one goal – a result they would probably be happy with before kick-off. It indeed is a funny game.All we can say is: please, can we have some more? And the answer is yes. See you at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUESemi-finalsTuesdayManchester City – Real Madrid 4-3 (2-1)/De Bruyne 2, Jesus 11, Foden 53, Bernardo 74 – Benzema 33, Vini Jr. 55, Benzema 82 pen/Wednesday22:00: (1.30) Liverpool (6.00) Villareal (11.0)***odds are subject to change***
