Real Madrid 1-1 Man City: The first game between Real Madrid and Manchester City in the semi-final of the Champions League has not produced a winner. However, it was never boring for a moment in Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, where Vinícius Júnior and Kevin De Bruyne shone with beautiful goals.
Real and City don’t give each other an inch in a wonderful fight
City was absolutely dominant in the first quarter of the match in Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. The visitors from Manchester had more than seventy percent possession. The ball was patiently played around and every now and then The Citizens handed out a pinprick. De Bruyne and Rodri took their chances with shots from a distance, but saw Thibaut Courtois save on their attempts without great difficulty. But once in that phase it was really code red for Real. That was when Erling Haaland was launched by De Bruyne in the fifteenth minute. After the Belgian’s pass, the ball was perfectly in front of the Norwegian’s left, whose low shot was disappointing and ended up in Courtois’ hands.
With Bernardo Silva on the right wing instead of Riyad Mahrez, Pep Guardiola had opted for more control of the ball rather than more threat in one-on-one situations. Real capitalized on City’s game plan and Haaland’s threat by generally defending close to their own goal. The fast striker of the England leader was simply barely given room to go deep.
Offensively, Real had to rely mainly on the smart play of Karim Benzema and the flashes of Vinícius. The left winger really showed himself for the first time with a ball conquest deep in City’s half, followed immediately by a sharp cross to Benzema. Rúben Dias defended great at that moment. With a next dangerous action by Vinícius, it really hit the spot. After a nice combination between Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric and a rush from the young Frenchman, Vinícius was given space to take a shot at more than twenty meters from goal. The 22-year-old Brazilian did that in an unparalleled way, Ederson had no answer to the rock-hard shot: 1-0.
Second half
For City supporters, the course of the first half undoubtedly brought back memories of the game just over a year ago at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, where Real was also the most effective at the time and advanced to the final of Pep Guardiola’s team at the expense of Pep Guardiola. the Champions League. The big difference on the English side compared to then was the presence of Haaland on Tuesday evening, although the striker was flawlessly stopped by Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba in large parts of the game. The latter made a great effort when Haaland was brought in by Gundogan early in the second half.
The threat posed by the acquisition, who has already scored 51 times for his club this season. Who seemed to provide just a little extra space for others. It was De Bruyne who took advantage of this in the 67th minute. While Real’s last line defended close to their own goal again, the playmaker unconcernedly lashed out after a tap wide. His shot was from about the same distance Vinícius scored from. And the swipe was just as impressive and effective: 1-1.
In the final phase, both teams were careful, for fear of getting into the knife. And having to start the return next Wednesday with a deficit. The two superpowers kept each other in balance, although Real was close to the winning goal through substitute Aurélien Tchouaméni. Ederson made a save from the young midfielder’s powerful swipe. There was no more scoring in the final phase. But that did not make the game any less satisfying for the neutral spectator. Looking forward to part two now.
