Kevin De Bruyne’s sensible drive earned Manchester City a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in a gripping Champions League semi-final first leg battle on Tuesday.
The Belgian slammed Pep Guardiola’s guests stage after Vinicius Junior opened the scoring for the reigning champions from a distance in equally spectacular style.
Madrid managed to fully shackle deadly striker Erling Haaland however De Bruyne’s highly effective effort left the tie on a knife edge forward of the second leg in Manchester subsequent week.
Highlights Real Madrid vs Manchester City UCL Semi-final
The file 14-time winners knocked City out on the identical stage final season regardless of being outplayed in each video games, and took the lead on the Santiago Bernabeu towards the run of play.
However when Madrid discovered their stride within the second half, City — nonetheless chasing their first ever Champions League trophy — hit again via De Bruyne.
Guardiola chosen Kyle Walker at right-back to fight the pacy risk of Real Madrid winger Vinicius, whereas Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti opted for Toni Kroos on the base of midfield.
Rodrygo, who struck two late objectives instead final season towards Manchester City to pave Madrid’s passage into the ultimate, began after his Copa del Rey heroics on Saturday.
The guests managed a lot of the primary half, with practically 70 p.c possession, however went in trailing on the break.
Thibaut Courtois fielded an early barrage of pictures from De Bruyne, Rodri and Haaland, as City dominated and Madrid sat again, absorbing the strain.
Guardiola’s aspect had been issued a warning when Vinicius gained the ball excessive up the pitch and crossed for Karim Benzema however Ruben Dias made an outstanding interception.
It was Madrid’s solely assault of be aware after half an hour and though City had been peppering Courtois, it was the closest both aspect got here, till Vinicius struck.
Madrid took the lead via a deadly counter-attack, with Eduardo Camavinga, taking part in at left-back, surging previous Bernardo Silva, tearing into house and feeding Vinicius.
The Brazilian arrowed a strike into the highest left nook from nearly 25 yards, previous Ederson’s helpless dive. It was Madrid’s solely shot within the first half, however the recreation’s only one.
– Haaland shackled –
City had been upset with a few of Madrid’s defensive aggression, notably Dani Carvajal’s makes an attempt at shackling Jack Grealish, together with slamming him into the promoting hoardings with out punishment.
David Alaba thwarted Haaland with a effective block early within the second half, as Madrid saved the Norwegian purpose machine beneath lock and key on his first look towards them.
Madrid didn’t enable him a transparent sight of purpose, guaranteeing he couldn’t add to his 51 objectives from 46 video games this season throughout all competitions.
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Madrid’s urgent was vastly improved after the break they usually pinned City again at occasions, exhibiting much more initiative than they provided at first.
However with Los Blancos ascendent, City sucker-punched them, simply as Madrid did to the Premier League leaders within the first half.
De Bruyne slammed the guests stage with a shot from the identical vary as Vinicius’s opener, on the identical finish, hammered low previous Courtois.
Ederson palmed away a Benzema header and a vicious Aurelien Tchouameni effort within the ultimate levels however, as Guardiola predicted earlier than the sport, the tie will likely be determined in Manchester.
The second leg takes place on May 17, with the winner dealing with Inter Milan or AC Milan within the ultimate.
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