Man City win seven-goal UCL classic to take first-leg advantage against Real Madrid

English Premier League leaders Manchester City secured a 4-3 victory over Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal tie on Tuesday night.

The Pep Guardiola side remain on course to reach the final of the competition, which they failed to win last season when they lost to Chelsea in the final.

It was Kevin de Bruyne who opened the scoring in the second minute of the game before Gabriel Jesus’ calm finish gave City a 2-0 lead inside the opening 11 minutes.

Red-hot Karim Benzema then scored Real’s first goal just after the half-hour mark, but Phil Foden’s 53rd-minute header made it 3-1.

Read Also: Chukwueze confident Villarreal can beat Liverpool to UCL final ticket

Vinicius Jr scored an individual goal to pile up more pressure on the hosts, Bernardo Silva scored the fourth for City before Benzema chipped in a penalty following Aymeric Laporte’s handball to make it 4-3.

The Etihad thriller is the joint-highest scoring ever Champions League semi-final, along with Ajax 5-2 Bayern Munich in 1995 and Liverpool 5-2 Roma in 2018.

Both teams put up a fine performance to produce a classic, and will meet again at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium next week for the reverse fixture.

The other semifinal tie is between Liverpool and Villarreal, with the first leg going down at Anfield on Wednesday night.

Winners from both semifinal ties will meet in the final billed to hold in Paris, France on May 28, 2022.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now