HIGHLIGHTS: A Thrilling Goals Galore At The Etihad Stadium As Real Madrid Lose UCL Semi Final First Leg To Man City.

Manchester City will take a slight advantage to the Santiago Bernabeu for their Champions League semi-final second leg clash against Real Madrid after the two sides played out a breathtaking seven-goal thriller at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.



Real Madrid had advanced to the penultimate round of the 2021/22 Champions League earlier this month after two hard-fought comeback victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. 

Tonight they took on Pep Guardiola's team in the first-leg of the semi-final hoping to advance to the final.


Ancelotti's normal defensive line was in action on the night, with David Alaba pronounced fit to play as well. Federico Valverde took over in midfield for the injured Casemiro, while Rodrygo started in attack alongside Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr.

For the visitors, the game did not get off to a good start, as the Los Blancos already found themselves behind 1-0 in the opening two minutes of the game.

Belgian star Kevin de Bruyne was the one who dealt the first blow to Ancelotti's strategy, as he scored with a diving header from Riyad Mahrez's spectacular cross.


READ MORE: Barcelona Suffers Third Home Defeat In A Row Under Xavi After Losing To Rayo Vallecano.


As if that was not enough, a defensive blunder by David Alaba handed the ball to Gabriel Jesus on a silver platter. The Brazilian made no mistake when he slammed the ball into the net to put them two-up inside 11 minutes.


The 13th time champions, began to find their footing in creating opportunities of their own, and in the 33rd minute, they were finally rewarded.

Karim Benzema, on his 600th appearance for Real Madrid, pulled one back with a superb volley beyond Ederson just before the half time.


Phil Foden headed in City's third goal past Courtois through Fernadinho's superb cross intovthe area eight minutes into the second half to restore City's initial two-goal lead.

The Brazilian Fernandinho went from being the team's hero to becoming the villain in the space of two minutes, as Real hit back after a mistake was made by the substitute which handed Vinicius Junior's a wonderful solo goal in the 53rd minute to make the scoreline 3-2.

Despite the fact that five goals had been scored on the night, one knew there was more to come. Bernardo Silva did just that in the 74th minute, capitalizing on a Zinchenko foul to curl the ball into the top-left corner to restore City's two goal advantage again.

Madrid was then awarded a penalty ten minutes from the end after Aymeric Laporte was adjudged to have handled the ball.

Man of the moment Benzema coolly took the penalty kick and converted it with deft skill, panenka-ing it past Ederson.

Three extra minutes were tacked on, but neither team was able to find the back of the net to cap a classic Champions League tie ending in a 4-3 result.



READ MORE: Gabriel Jesus Reacts To Speculations Linking Him To Away From The Etihad Stadium.


Carlo Ancelotti's men will have to score two un-replied goals at the Bernabeu in order to qualify for the final, while any draw or win for Pep Guardiola's team would grant them qualification to their second champions league final set to be played at the Stade de France, Paric on Saturday May 8. 


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