In the early morning of April 27, Beijing time, the first leg of this season's Champions League semi-finals was played first. Manchester City staged a goal battle with La Liga giants Real Madrid at home to the Etihad Stadium, and finally won 4-3, taking the lead in the two-legged match.
De Bruyne scored with a header in the opening 2 minutes.
Manchester City and Real Madrid are currently the "bellwethers" in the Premier League and La Liga standings respectively. Just 2 minutes into the opening, the Blue Moon took advantage of the home field to "blitz", Mahrez crossed 45 degrees, and De Bruyne jumped into the top of the penalty area to break the goal. Nine minutes later, the Belgian star made another achievement, and he crossed diagonally into the box to assist Jesus to score another goal. Seeing the team trailing by two goals, French striker Benzema, who has carried the team almost single-handedly in the Champions League this season, stepped forward and in the 33rd minute he received a left-foot volley from Mendy to help Real Madrid recover a goal.
De Bruyne assisted Jesus' goal.
In the second half, City started well again, with youngster Foden picking up a cross from Fernandinho in the 53rd minute and hitting the header to extend the lead to two goals. However, this time Real Madrid responded quickly, and in the 55th minute, Brazilian youngster Vinicius ran wildly with the ball on the left side, burst into the box and pushed the goal from a small angle. In the final stages of the game, the pitch was still high, first Bernardo Silva's left-footed shot from inside the box to score for Manchester City, and then Benzema withstood the pressure in the 81st minute and scored the "spoon" penalty. In the end, the goal battle ended with a 4-3 home win over Manchester City.
Benzema volleyed a volley to retrieve a goal for Real Madrid.
"I'm so proud of the team, it was one of the best nights of my life! Football is a competition and the results are very important. After the game, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who is accustomed to big scenes, was also excited about such a wonderful game, saying bluntly that he could not ask more from the players on the field, because everyone knows how good Real Madrid is.
Foden opened the scoring with a header from the second half.
It is worth mentioning that Guardiola once made a slip of the tongue in an interview, and when asked how to evaluate the game, he said: "The two sides joined forces to contribute a game, unfortunately ... No, no, we won the game! In the second leg we are trying to win again at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium! ”
Vinicius scored a brilliant goal on a long run.
Real Madrid boss Ancelotti, who is more than 10 years older than Guardiola, said in an interview that the most important thing for Real Madrid is to score 3 goals, "To be honest, our defense was not very good, we conceded two goals in a row, but we responded on the offensive end and scored 3 very beautiful goals in the whole game, which not only gave us a big boost of confidence, but more importantly, we only returned home with a one-goal disadvantage. ”
In the 81st minute, Benzema scored a "spoonful" penalty to set the score at 3-4.
According to the schedule, the second leg of the two teams will be played in the early morning of May 5, Beijing time at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, the home of Real Madrid.