By all accounts, Real Madrid closed the roof of this fantastically renovated and repurposed old stadium to improve the atmosphere. They didn’t have to worry. Six goals took care of all that.
What a match of European football this was. It would be wrong to describe it as a game of punches and counterpunchs. It wasn’t like that.
Real dominated for much of the evening. Manchester City – the winners and treble winners – were not at their majestic best. Far from it.
But with Carlo Ancelotti’s team failing to punish City when the momentum, territory and chances were all theirs in the middle third of the match, the English champions connected with two swinging hooks of their own midway through the second half and that was enough to stop them. alive and indeed install them as slight favorites ahead of next week’s second leg in east Manchester.
This could have been a truly sensational evening for Pep Guardiola. After seeing his team concede an early lead and trail 2–1 at half-time and struggle for so long, two stunning goals from Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol put City ahead with twenty minutes to go. In reality, Real and their crowd suddenly looked and sounded broken and defeated.
Phil Foden scored a stunning equalizer in a classic European time between Man City and Real
Foden continued his brilliant form this season, scoring a stunning goal to make it 2-2
The City star curled into the top corner with a brilliant effort to square it all up again
Pep Guardiola celebrates passionately with Foden after bringing City back on level terms
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But this was a game that from the very first moment had refused to conform to obvious and predictable patterns.
So when Real’s right-sided forward Federico Valverde whipped a falling ball over City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega and into the far corner with the volley with twelve minutes left to score, which was arguably the goal of the night, we probably shouldn’t have should be surprised. It was a high rate goal on a night when the bar was set absurdly high.
What this all means is that City should have traveled home happy.
Not necessarily with the way they played – there is plenty to improve on – but certainly with the outcome. This wasn’t necessarily a slap and grab. After all, they didn’t win. But still, this felt like a bit of theft.
It wasn’t the kind of performance Guardiola cherishes. The City manager’s football is all about control. He likes his genius to be predictable and there was little of that here.
City hung around for a while. Real had to be better in front of goal. Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior and even Jude Bellingham have missed good opportunities and are likely to regret them by the time the second leg at the Etihad is over.
City’s preparation was not easy. Kevin De Bruyne was due to play but fell ill and Jack Grealish intervened.
Bernardo Silva gave City the best possible start by scoring from a free kick inside two minutes
Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin was out of position and couldn’t prevent the shot
A jubilant Silva drives away in celebration after silencing the early doors of the Bernabeu
Grealish was then crucial for City to take the lead in the second minute. He drove hard at Real’s Aurelien Tchouameni and committed a foul for which his opponent was shown a yellow card.
As the Real defensive wall settled in, Bernardo Silva delivered a low free-kick to Andriy Lunin’s right and the Ukrainian goalkeeper couldn’t get low fast enough to prevent the ball from finding the back of the net.
City were beside themselves and were briefly dominant. Erling Haaland – largely anonymous with just 20 touches afterwards – saw an opportunity blocked by Lunin just after half-time and Real wobbled a bit.
But Real would bounce back quickly and emphatically. Their equalizer was a bit of luck: Eduardo Camavinga’s shot wrong-footed Ruben Dias and Ortega as he entered.
However, the second – about a minute later – was a desperately bad one to concede. Vinicius Jnr was able to release Rodrygo on the left and he ran away from City’s right-back Manuel Aakanji to grab Ortega and slowly but accurately poke the ball over the goalkeeper into the far corner.
The ball barely had enough speed to wobble over the line, but it got there and in no time City were in trouble.
The first half was hectic at first, as Man City and Real Madrid traded attacks
Ten minutes after the deadlock was broken, Eduardo Camavinga pulled one back for Real
The Frenchman’s shot fell to Ruben Dias, putting Real on level terms with City
What Guardiola’s team needed now was a bit of certainty, the ability to make the game sharper and calmer. The home crowd – loud under the roof – had found its voice and that also started to work against the Premier League champions.
However, City could not get their hands on things. Rodrygo in particular continued to look for places with space and use them to withdraw the city with four men.
Twice more the Brazilian found space to shoot and both times Ortega held the ball more comfortably than he might have expected.
Vinicius Jnr and Camavinga also fired on target with similar results and within all this City were only able to play and forage on the break.
City did pose a threat when they had the ball. Grealish, for example, worked his way a yard into the penalty area in the 33rd minute, but when his shot was blocked, Real were on the other side and threatening within thirty seconds. That summed up City’s first-half problems in a nutshell.
Then, just two minutes after Real’s equalizer, Rodrygo slotted past Ortega to put Real up 2-1.
The Brazilian’s shot was deflected on its way to the net and past the onrushing City goalkeeper
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti appeared bewildered by a hectic first half between the sides
However, things needed to improve. Real threatened twice more early in the second period – Bellingham fired over goal and Vinicius Jnr fired over – but on nights like these, games can turn on moments, mistakes or brilliant pieces. Here it was the last.
It becomes something of a signature move to see Foden come in from the right and fire high over the goalkeeper with his left foot.
He recently did that in the Manchester derby. That goal was also the equalizer, and it was just as good. He came on in the 66th minute, when his team’s need was greatest.
To be honest, there wasn’t much to notice. Rodri and Mateo Kovacic were poor in City’s midfield and as such there had been no platform.
But goals do strange things in games and four minutes later Grealish passed sideways to Gvardiol and he pulled a low right-foot shot over the goalkeeper and into the corner from a similar distance as Foden, giving City a lead that had never seemed likely.
Minutes after Foden’s equalizer, Josko Gvardiol scored a screamer to put City back in front
The unlikely goalscorer celebrates with Jack Grealish after scoring the fifth goal of the match
Federico Valverde then scored his own wonder goal to make it 3-3 that evening
They couldn’t hold it and probably didn’t deserve it. Real deserved credit for lifting themselves to make it late again and Valverde’s volley was truly superb.
City and Real Madrid have taken us to some extreme places earlier in this competition and it is hoped they meet in the final one day.
Although that won’t be this year. With the second leg of this coming up, a high standard has been set.