A seven-goal thriller at the Etihad stadium
Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid.
An electrifying game of football took place in Manchester between two of the best teams in the world that saw seven goals scored in this late stage of the Champions League tournament.
Manchester City may regret not holding onto the two-goal advantage they had over Real Madrid. This Madrid side always finds a means to score goals as they have been doing for the past month and a half (since the 4-0 home loss to FC Barcelona).
Benzema again
Karim Benzema leads the race for Ballon D’Or this year with another astonishing performance. Manchester City quickly scored two goals in just the first 10 minutes. Benzema halved City’s lead to 2-1 at the break. Then City again establish again a two-goal cushion but Vinicius halved it with 120 seconds. And again City scored a fourth goal but Benzema, him again, chipped his penalty for a final score ending at 4-3. Manchester City was dominant but also let Real Madrid come back three times in the tie. Next week at the Bernabeu is set for another fantastic Match to determine one of the two finalists.
Post-game reactions from the coaches
Man City coach Guardiola
“It was a fantastic game for both sides. We did many good things. Unfortunately, we conceded goals and we could not score more. But two games and we have another one in one week.
We played a fantastic game against an incredible team. The moments where they rise and come back into the game in the first half I think we gave them as our build-up was so nervous.
Normally we are so safe and so good. Also they press really good and strong. All around the world and for Manchester City, we are so proud. But it is about reaching the final and sometimes football happens
The result could have been better, and you have to perform really well over two games and we’ve performed really well in the first one. It’s a good test to show the personality of our team and we travel there to try and win the game.
I am so proud and so incredibly happy at the way we performed. We did everything we could to win and had courage with and without the ball.
Now we recover and hopefully arrive quite well for Leeds and then head to Madrid.”
“I’m a bit frustrated because we came second best in many of our individual duels in the first half and they scored two goals that we could have avoided had we been paying attention. We managed to produce a reaction and keep the game alive ahead of the return leg. It’s a defeat that keeps us in the tie ahead of the second match at the Bernabéu We’ve got to improve defensively because we’ve got the quality up top to pose them problems in the return leg.
I get the feeling that we started the game very poorly. We were too soft and ended up conceding two goals. The team then showed it’s great ability to produce a reaction, we competed and were in the game right up until the end. We have to improve defensively. We did well in possession and created goalscoring opportunities. It’ll be really important that we improve defensively in the return leg. I’ve got a very experienced team that keeps their cool when the going gets tough. They’ve played many games like this and never give in and always keep their heads up.
I think we’ll struggle to see a similar and equally open game as the one we did here tonight. It’ll be a different match. City has the advantage and you’ve got to take that into account. I hope that our fans demand a better performance from us to reach the final. Our fans have to be ready for the return leg because we’re going to fight to make it another magical night”.
