Eder Militão is on the near side of the box and is addressed by Carvajal’s cross from the right wing. From a good eleven meters, the Portuguese nods directly into Ederson’s hands.
Tooor for Real Madrid, 3:2 by Vinícius Júnior
Real are back with a world-class solo by Vinícius Júniors! After Mendy’s through ball from his own half, the Brazilian drives the ball over 40 meters into the sixteen. From the pentagon he spits it past Ederson into the far corner.
Yellow card for Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
Tooor for Manchester City, 3: 1 by Phil Foden
Foden rewards strong restart! Fernandinho is sent down the right wing after winning the ball himself. He crosses into the unoccupied space between the edge of the five and the penalty spot. At full speed, the free Foden nods into the right corner.
Once again, the English made a furious start, constricting the designated Spanish champions in the middle. They are not satisfied with the current lead.
Mahrez fails on post! Against the promoted Blancos, the Algerian has a lot of free grass in front of him on the half-right. He drives the ball into the sixteen and circles it at full speed and eight meters to the left corner. He just hits the inside post. Foden wants to win, but Carvajal stands in the way.
While Pep Guardiola refrained from making any personnel changes during the break, Carlo Ancelotti took down the ailing Alaba and sent Nacho into the race.
Welcome back to the second round at Etihad Stadium! After the dream start, the Premier League representative seemed to be on the right track to making a preliminary decision in the race for the final. However, Real was not only able to eliminate its defensive coordination problems, but also increased the number of offensive pinpricks. Will City expand their advantage after the change of sides or will the visitors continue their positive trend?
Substitution at Real Madrid
Nacho replaces David Alaba
Mid-term conclusion:
Manchester City FC lead 2-1 at half-time in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid CF. The Sky Blues took the lead in the second minute through a De Bruyne header. The guest seemed unimpressed by the early deficit with a decent ball possession rate, but only a little later the English took their second opportunity to follow up with Jesus (11th). The Guardiola squad then dominated the Blancos for long stretches with slight negligence and scraped Mahrez (27th) and Foden (30th) just wide of their third goal. A very good header chance by Alabas (31st) brought the Spaniards’ attacking department to life out of the blue. With a perfect volley from Benzema, who was in world-class form, the Ancelotti selection made the connection in the 33rd minute. As a result, Manchester turned up again, but missed further clear conclusions. See you soon!
Official stoppage time (minutes): 1
Round one at Etihad Stadium is to be extended by 60 seconds.
De Bruyne wants to place a free-kick from 22 meters inside the left with the right inside instep directly in the net behind Courtois. Its execution is set too low and gets stuck in the dark blue wall.
City shifts up a gear again before the cabin aisle. The home team settles deep in the opposing half, but now they don’t find free spaces as often as they did in the first half hour.
Mahrez circles a free kick from the right wing at the edge of the penalty area with his left instep directly onto the far corner. Courtois anticipated this and fists the ball out of danger with both hands.
Incidentally, Benzema not only scored his eighth goal in this knockout phase, but also his 40th in all competitions this season. The Frenchman has achieved this for the first time in his career.
Central defender Stones leaves the pitch on the side of the Sky Blues. He will be replaced by the experienced Fernandinho.
Substitution at Manchester City
Fernandinho replaces John Stones
Rodrygo finds a way into the sixteen on the right and shoots at the short corner from a tight angle. Ederson raises his arms and parries to the corner. It brings nothing to the Madrilenians.
Tooor for Real Madrid, 2-1 through Karim Benzema
Real is back! Mendy’s unchallenged cross from the left wing is destined for the center of the box. Benzema is closely guarded by Zinchenko, but his left-footed volley flies through his legs as a bounce and lands untenably in the right corner.
Zinchenko appears on the half-left just before the last enemy line. He shoots powerfully at the long corner from 19 meters. The ball misses this by a good half a meter.
Alaba nearly with the connecting gate! After a corner taken briefly by the left flag, Benzema crosses with a lot of spin in the area between the penalty spot and the edge of the five. Alaba jumps the highest and lets the ball slide towards the long corner. The ball flies wafer-thin past the post.
Foden are also missing centimeter! In another quick counterattack, De Bruyne shifts from the center to the left offensive corridor after a pass from the right wing. At full speed, Foden wants to place the ball in the flat right corner. His attempt rushes just past the aluminum.
Mahrez with the big chance to 3:0! Against advanced Spaniards, the Algerian is the addressee of a through pass by Bernardo Silvas on the half-right. Mahrez drives the ball into the sixteen with speed and fires it at the short corner from a good 14 meters. He misses the bar by a hair.
Real continues to have one or two decent build-up moments, but is primarily challenged on their own sixteen. Too often the distances between the individual parts of the team when working against the ball are not correct.
… after De Bruyne’s corner slipped from the right flag to the left side of the box, Foden takes aim from a good 14 meters. Carvajal blocks the shot.
Eder Militão’s inaccurate back pass fails to save Courtois from the right goal, giving England a corner…
Vinícius Júnior refueled after a high ball win over half left in the opposing sixteen. He wants to flick into the far corner from an acute angle with a blocked trajectory, but clearly misses it from an acute angle.
Foden is looking for Jesus! The young Englishman is the addressee of a low pass from De Bruyne on the left side of the box. He plays flat and hard from the baseline to the middle edge of five. There, Alaba saves from Jesus in dire need.
Manchester have tasted blood and are now pushing for the quick third goal, which could already be a preliminary decision in the fight for the final.
Tooor for Manchester City, 2-0 through Gabriel Jesus
City manages a perfect initial phase! After a reserve by Foden, De Bruyne plays a flat diagonal pass from the left wing to the nearby pentagon. There, Jesus turns to Alaba and pushes in coldly with the right inner instep at the bottom right.
Rodrygo picks up speed on the right wing after a long shot from his own half. However, the Brazilian gets stuck in the run duel to Zinchenko.
The Madrilenians prove their composure and are relatively unimpressed by the early goal. As a result of the unfortunate first actions, they countered with high ball security.
The guest makes it over the center line for the first time. Modrić tries to send Vinícius Júnior behind the opposing defense with a through ball from the center. The allusion is inaccurate and is intercepted by Stones.
Tooor for Manchester City, 1-0 through Kevin De Bruyne
The Sky Blues take the lead after just 90 seconds! Mahrez pulls in from the right wing and crosses halfway up from the half field into the center of the sixteen. De Bruyne broke away from guard Carvajal and completed with a diving header into the left corner.
City vs. Real – semi-final half-time is open!
The Champions League anthem sounds.
The teams have just entered the field.
Los Blancos, who failed in the semi-finals at Chelsea FC last season and who only have a mathematical advantage of 15 points in the Primera División championship over second-placed FC Barcelona, are coached by Carlo Ancelotti after the 3-1 away win CA Osasuna five times around. Carvajal, Mendy, Kroos, Modrić and Vinícius Júnior edge Nacho, Ceballos, Camavinga, Asensio and Vázquez onto the bench.
For the Sky Blues, who are in the Champions League semi-finals for the third time and lead the Premier League table by a point with five games remaining, coach Pep Guardiola has compared to the 5-1 home win against the Watford FC made four staff changes. Instead of Cancelo (not in the squad), Fernandinho, Sterling and Grealish (all on the bench), Stones, Bernardo Silva, Foden and Mahrez start.
Real Madrid CF trailed FC Internazionale Milano, FC Sheriff and FK Shakhtar Donetsk in the first phase of the competition. They caught up well in the knockout stage against Paris Saint-Germain FC before losing a 3-1 first-leg win against Chelsea FC in the quarter-finals but prevailing in extra time at home’s Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. The Ancelotti team’s life insurance is Benzema, who has scored seven times in the last three premier league games.
Manchester City FC, last year’s finalists, are once again at the highest international level. After finishing first in Group A ahead of Paris Saint-Germain FC, RB Leipzig and Club Brugge KV, he confidently defeated Sporting CP in the round of 16 (5-0 and 0-0). In the most recent knockout stage, the Guardiola squad had to stretch more: against an ultra-defensive Club Atlético de Madrid, a first-leg goal by De Bruynes (70th) made the difference over 180 minutes.
Of the 32 teams that started the group stage in mid-September, four can still hope to lift the crown of European club football seven months later in Paris at the end of May. Manchester City FC, still awaiting their first Champions League title, and Real Madrid CF, winners with a record 13 pots, meet in the first Anglo-Spanish semi-final tie.
Hello and welcome to the Champions League on Tuesday night! Manchester City FC host Real Madrid CF in the first leg of the semifinals. Sky Blues and Blancos face off on the Etihad Stadium lawn from 9pm our time.