It was a classic UCL semi-final of Manchester City vs Real Madrid. They showcased possibly the match of the season with Manchester City defeating Real Madrid 4-3 at the Etihad in the first leg of the semi-final. Real Madrid showed why they should never be written off in the Champions League because in spite of conceding 4 goals they managed to get a positive result at the Etihad by giving only a single goal lead to City when they arrive at the Bernebeu.
Analysing the Match
But the nearly comeback that Madrid made against City wasn’t looking like that was going to happen after watching the first 10 minutes of the game when City went 2-0 up against Madrid, courtesy of the goals by De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus. At that moment even Ancelotti was a worried man but then the 2 players that have carried Madrid throughout the season produced moments of magic against City. When Benzema started the goals for Madrid followed by an absolutely wonderful goal scored by Vinicius when we walked past through City’s defence and then Benzema concluded the night for Madrid by scoring a Panenka penalty.
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Although City got the win that they deserved and they would take it with a pinch of salt as Guardiola would know that a 1 goal lead isn’t enough to take at the Bernebeu after the performance that City showed tonight. The game could have been easily killed by City and they could have scored easily 5-6 goals, but they made defensive mistakes which cost them the lead and maybe they’ll even regret it if they do not qualify for the finals. Still they can be proud of the fact that scoring 4 goals in a semi-final against a team like Madrid is surely sensational. This 1 goal lead also creates a positive as when they go to Madrid, it would develop a better chance for City to open Real Madrid up because Madrid would be playing it as an all out attack game looking for the win and that’s when they could make defensive mistakes which City could definitely take advantage off.
What’s Next?
In this match, it was clearly seen how much City are vulnerable without their full-backs in their defence, which is why Madrid should be careful in the second leg as City would be boosted by the return of the suspended Joao Cancelo and possible even Kyle Walker. City would also look out for the returning Casemiro in Madrid’s midfield as they would know Casemiro-Modric-Kroos can defeat any team simply by orchestrating the midfield. So it’ll surely be an intriguing match next week in the Bernebeu between both the teams as a spot in the Uefa Champions League final is at stake. It could be an all English final with Manchester City vs Liverpool or an all Spanish final between Real Madrid and Villareal.
