Fans at the Santiago Bernabeu were treated to a Champions League classic, as nothing separated Real Madrid and Manchester City as both sides played out a 3-3 draw in the first leg of the quarter-finals tie.
The match could not have gotten off to a worse start for the European giants as Aurelien Tchouameni was shown a yellow card, which led to a free kick for Bernardo Silva – who made no mistake to put it in the back of the net.
To make matters worse, Tchouameni is now suspended for the all-important 2nd leg at the Etihad Stadium next week.
The Galacticos replied in style as a Camavinga shot took a deflection off Ruben Dias and ended up in goal. Just two minutes later, a sumptuous ball from Vinicius opened up Rodrygo who slotted home the ball after putting it past Akanji and Ortega.
It was all positives for Ancelotti’s men heading into the break after the 1st half, as they had the lead and had nullified City’s threats – mainly Rodri, Foden, and Haaland.
However, as the 2nd half began, Real Madrid took a cautious approach which ended up proving costly as that allowed City to keep possession for a longer period of time.
Ultimately, in the 66th minute, an unmarked Phil Foden scored a stunning goal from just outside the box to equalize for the visiting side.
Just a few minutes later, Josko Gvardiol scored from another long-range effort – perhaps the best of the night – as he curled the ball into the bottom right corner.
In the 72nd minute, Carlo brought on Luka Modric and Brahim Diaz for Toni Kroos and Rodrygo. The change surely worked, especially as far as Modric was concerned.
As soon the Croatian came on, there was a sense of urgency and the home side attacked like they did in the first half. Soon, in the 79th minute, Vinicius whipped a cross inside the penalty area for Fede Valverde to volley it home to score the equalizer for the 14-time champions.
Madrid had a few more close chances later on too but were unable to make the most of it as the game ended in a 3-3 draw.
Not only fans but players such as Fede Valverde thought this draw felt like more of a defeat. At the end of the day, it was better to travel to the Etihad level on goals, instead of being a goal down.
Vinicius, Jude Bellingham, and Eduardo Camavinga did well throughout the game to avoid the yellow card however, Jude in particular looked vulnerable to receiving one as he did not have a good game.
Carlo Ancelotti would be gutted to have lost Tchouameni for the 2nd leg but this would mean Eder Militao will most probably take his place, who has not started a game since August.
How the Italian manager tackles this situation will be interesting to see as Real Madrid have never won a game at the Etihad Stadium.
All in all, Real Madrid live to fight another day. Although the result could have been a better one, they can learn from the mistakes they made and put in a better performance for the 2nd leg.
So, everything is perfectly set for the climax. Will Real Madrid break the curse and breach City’s fortress or will Pep’s side surge past the men in white again? Eyes will be fixated at the Etihad Stadium next week.
