That’s all set up nicely for next Wednesday at the Bernabeu, then. If we get a match half as good as the one served up tonight we’ll be doing very nicely. A reminder that Liverpool host Villarreal tomorrow, so hopefully we’ll see you again for that one. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
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Carlo Ancelotti adds: “We scored three goals, but didn’t defend so well. We reacted really well to going two down, we kept the game open, and we have a great dream to play the second game in the Bernabeu and hope to have a chance to go to the final. This team, these players, don’t lose their minds when things aren’t so good. The first 20 minutes were really difficult but slowly, slowly, we came back into the game. We have to compete more in our stadium.”
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Pep talks to BT Sport. “It was a fantastic game for both sides. We did many good things, but unfortunately we conceded the goals. We could have scored more. We played a fantastic game against an incredible team. Our build-up was so nervous, but they pressed really well and were strong. We are so proud. But this is about reaching the final, and football sometimes happened. We are going to Madrid to try to win the game. What we have done with and without the ball, I cannot ask for anything else. Leeds is now the most important game.”
Pep’s verdict is still to come, but David Hytner’s is in. Here it is!
Phil Foden talks to BT Sport: “For the fans watching, it was a great game of football, a lot of goals. But we went up against a team who have won the Champions League many times. We know if we give the ball away in dangerous areas, they’re going to punish us, so that’s something we have to work on for the second leg. The game’s still on! But we have to take our chances more.”
Bernardo Silva adds: “The first 20 minutes we were so, so good. Over the 90 minutes it feels we could have won with a better score. But we were not able to take advantage of our two-goal differences, which we had three times. But that’s the Champions League and it’s still a good score for us, one more goal than them. Our fans should be proud of us. It’s true we could have scored more, but that’s football.”
City take a lead to the Bernabeu next week, and yet it’s Real who look the happier as the teams leave the pitch. Silva, Laporte and Dias argue the toss over the penalty with the referee, while Foden appears a little down. Benzema allows himself a little smile, half contentment, half relief. He’ll be thankful City didn’t blow Real away during the first 30 minutes. Seven goals, and six of them peaches, with Vinicius Junior’s solo run from the halfway line, and Benzema’s Panenka the best of a bumper crop. What a night!
FULL TIME: Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid
A classic. What a game of football!
90 min +4: Foden’s delivery isn’t all that. Real clear their lines.
90 min +3: Nacho is booked for a clip on Mahrez. Then Foden wins a corner down the right. One last chance for City to re-establish that two-goal cushion?
90 min +2: The game restarts. We might get 33 extra minutes yet!
90 min +1: A pause as a couple of pitch invaders make themselves known.
90 min: There will be three bonus minutes. Can we have 33, please?
89 min: Having referenced Zidane on the subject of Benzema’s Panenka, it’s worth adding that, for a millisecond, it looked like he’d got a bit too much on it. But he didn’t bother the crossbar like Zizou in the 2006 World Cup final, the ball roofing into the net instead. What moxie, though.
88 min: That’s the last act from Vinicius this evening. He’s replaced by Asensio.
87 min: Valverde executes a graceful flick down the right to set Benzema away on a dribble. He waltzes all the way across the front of the City box before feeding Vinicius down the left channel. Vinicius hoicks over from a tight angle, 12 yards out.
85 min: Mahrez curls in low from the right. Sterling misses it. Militao gets a flick. Dias nearly slides it home at the far post. He gets no touch so it’s a corner. From which Mahrez and Dias repeat the trick! A tempting cross from the right, Dias missing by inches at the far stick. This is awesome entertainment.
83 min: Jesus is replaced by Sterling. In other admin news, Fernandinho was booked for arguing the toss over the penalty award.
GOAL! Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid (Benzema 82 pen)
This match is getting positively psychedelic. Benzema gives Ederson the eyes and Panenkas it! A Panenka in a Champions League semi, with his team two goals adrift. Zidanesque.
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Penalty for Real Madrid!
81 min: The free kick’s swung high into the box. Laporte goes up with Benzema. The ball slaps his hand, which was up by his head. The referee points to the spot. Benzema waits to take as boos ring around the stadium.
80 min: Valverde intercepts a loose ball in the middle of the park and sends Benzema into acres down the right. Benzema’s low cross is swept away by Silva. Camavinga wins a free kick out on the right. And from that ...
79 min: Modric dribbles down the inside-left channel and drags a shot wide right. Ederson had it covered. That’s Modric’s last contribution of the evening. He’s replaced by Ceballos.
77 min: Ederson races hysterically miles from his box to absolutely blooter clear, under pressure from Benzema. A spectacular, no-nonsense clearance that’s celebrated almost as much as Silva’s goal.
76 min: Mahrez dribbles into the Real box from the right, past a string of challenges. At the corner of the six-yard box, he pokes past Courtois but inches wide of the left-hand post.
75 min: An assist for the referee there. A magnificent advantage. Courtois might have stopped, mind. Play to the whistle, lads.
GOAL! Manchester City 4-2 Real Madrid (Silva 74)
Another astonishing goal! Zinchenko comes in from the left and is hacked down by Kroos, just to the left of the D. The ref things about blowing for a free kick, but with Silva in possession, waits to see what unfolds. And what unfolds is Silva taking a touch into the box and lashing an unstoppable rising shot into the top left!
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72 min: City enjoy a little more of that delicious sterile possession. Real sit back and hold their defensive shape, such as it is.
70 min: Camavinga comes on for Rodrygo. “Guardiola seems to lose the run of himself regularly, and his team tenses up,” writes Kári Tulinius. “This usually happens at the worst possible moment, such as just now when his team have just gone 3-1 up. Did this change, or was he always like this? I don’t remember Pep losing his head like this at Barcelona or Bayern, not even when Mourinho poked Tito Vilanova in the eye.”
69 min: Vinicius spins Dias down the inside-left channel with embarrassing ease, then beats Laporte and slips a ball into the box in the hope of combining with Rodrygo. Danger for City! Two clanks later, and it’s a goal kick. It looked like Vinicius had handled when passing Laporte, though, so VAR might have had something to say had Real scored.
68 min: Foden, De Bruyne and Zinchenko combine down the left. The latter swishes a low cross into the box. Laporte, of all people, is racing down the middle. He swings a leg at the ball and sends it whistling towards the bottom left. A bit too close to Courtious, who claims.
66 min: Real seem happy enough to take it down a notch as well. Both teams enjoy a little period of sterile possession.
64 min: City slow things down a bit, which is probably a good idea.
62 min: Modric shakes the old hips and slips Benzema free down the left. He can’t find Rodrygo in the centre with his cross. City clear. Real come again, Benzema winding his neck back for a header, but the ball doesn’t arrive, eyebrowed away from the danger zone by Dias. There are more goals in this game all right.
60 min: Vinicius and Benzema combine down the left, the latter nearly working space for a shot. Not quite, but Real are looking dangerous every time they attack right now.
59 min: Vinicius nearly blazes clear down the left touchline again. It looks like he’s shoved over by Dias, just to the side of the box, but the referee waves play on.
57 min: Carvajal crosses from the right. Militao floats a weak header into the arms of Ederson. City hearts were in mouths for a second there.
56 min: Mahrez and Silva combine down the right. Silva crosses into a packed box. Valverde deals with the situation by leaping into the air, spinning through 180 degrees, and volleying clear with a backheel. It’s that sort of evening now.
GOAL! Manchester City 3-2 Real Madrid (Vinicius 55)
Real are back in it ... again! And what a goal this is! A pass down the left touchline. Vinicius spins Fernandinho on the halfway line and leaves him for dust. He zips all the way to the left-hand corner of the six-yard box, opens his body, and slots across Ederson and into the bottom right! That’s an outstanding solo effort, and what a game this is!
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54 min: Pep Guardiola is booked for ranting at the referee, incensed at a garden-variety challenge in the midfield.
GOAL! Manchester City 3-1 Real Madrid (Foden 53)
They’ve got that goal now! Fernandinho romps down the right. He crosses. Jesus pulls Militao to the near post, allowing the ball to drop to Foden, who steers a header into the bottom right from six yards!
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52 min: City are beginning to re-establish their dominance. Like the first half all over again, but without the reward of an early goal.
50 min: Nothing comes of the corner, but City are almost immediately racing forward again, De Bruyne curling in low from the right. Foden can’t quite meet the cross at the far post, and Carvajal is able to shepherd out for a goal kick.
48 min: The crowd are hollering now, though! Mahrez pinches the ball off Militao and tears clear down the inside-right channel. He’s clear on goal! He opens his body and creams a shot past Courtois ... and off the left-hand post! The rebound falls to Foden, who raises his left leg to send a first-time reaction shot goalwards. Carvajal, on the line, blocks, and Rodri’s attempt from the edge of the box is deflected out for a corner. How on earth did that stay out?!
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47 min: Real enjoy some early second-half possession. They’ve done a good job of quietening down the crowd.
Real get the ball rolling for the second half. Alaba, who had been an injury doubt, is replaced by Nacho. Speaking of injury, that’s indeed what did for Stones, who indicated to his manager that he couldn’t continue, forcing Pep to spring into action. Stones then trudged down the tunnel with puppy-dog sadness in the eyes.
Half-time entertainment ... ahead of tomorrow night’s other semi-final first leg.
HALF TIME: Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid
There’s just enough time for Mahrez to send a cross into the mixer from the right, causing momentary panic among the Madrid defenders, and the whistle goes. City could have been out of sight, but Real have limited the damage. Time for Carlo Ancelotti to get to work, while Pep Guardiola prepares to give Mahrez the hairdryer treatment.
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45 min: De Bruyne blooters an uncharacteristically witless shot straight into the wall. There will be one added minute.
44 min: A brilliant interception by Zinchenko, with Valverde this close to sending Rodrygo scampering clear down the right. City go straight up the other end, and Kroos upends Jesus near the left-hand corner of the box. Another free kick in a dangerous position.
43 min: Jesus spins Militao elegantly on the byline to the left of the Real goal. His cross is deflected out for a corner. Militao makes up for being sold the dummy by heading Foden’s corner away powerfully.
41 min: ... but it’s Mahrez who takes it, looking for a curler into the top left. Courtois is behind it all the way and punches clear confidently.
40 min: Vinicius barges Silva over to the right of the Real box. De Bruyne’s eyes light up.
38 min: I mean ... I’m assuming it’s an enforced change. Vinicius had been getting a fair bit of joy down the left. But surely it’s not tactical? A downer for Stones either way.
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36 min: City are forced into an early change. Stones, who only passed a late fitness test, is replaced by Fernandinho.
35 min: Suddenly it’s all Real! Rodrygo bursts into the City box from the right and lashes a fierce shot at goal. Ederson parries, and nothing comes of the resulting corner.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Real Madrid (Benzema 33)
Real have created next to nothing this evening, but now look! Modric crunches into a tackle with Mahrez, and sends Mendy into space down the inside-left channel. Mendy swings in a bouncing cross. Benzema gets ahead of Zinchenko on the edge of the area, and swivels a shot into the bottom right. And as quickly as that, Real are back in it!
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31 min: Zinchenko has a dig from 25 yards. His low diagonal shot is always swinging wide of the right-hand post.
30 min: Benzema wins a corner down the left, then from the set piece curls in for Alaba, who eyebrows a header just wide of the right-hand post. Not entirely sure Ederson was getting to that, had it been on target.
29 min: It Should Be Three pt.II (of what will almost certainly be an ongoing series). De Bruyne, absolutely bossing this match, slips Foden clear down the left. Foden’s first touch isn’t ideal, taking him a little too far to the left. So instead of slotting home, he drags a shot across the face of goal and wide right.
28 min: Now Ederson is nearly Sadio Mané-d by Benzema on his goalline! He clears. Just.
26 min: This is turning into such an odd game. Now De Bruyne sends Mahrez free into acres down the right. He’s got Foden free in the middle. A pass rolled across, and it’s 3-0. But he goes for the top right instead, and lashes into the side netting. On the touchline, Pep is absolutely furious. An eye-popping, vein-bulging, lung-lacerating rant. Penny to be a fly on the City dressing room wall at half time.
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25 min: Slapstick shenanigans in the City box. Ederson passes out to Dias, who allows himself to be stripped immediately by Benzema. The ball breaks to Vinicius, on the edge of the six-yard box. Dias gets back and pokes the ball across Ederson. It dribbles towards the open goal, and deflects off the base of the right-hand post. Then the flag goes up for offside, which explains why Benzema didn’t bother to run the rebound home.
23 min: Vinicius and Benzema one-two down the left. They nearly find a way through the City back line, but Dias reads the danger brilliantly to intercept and clear. “I would be worried as a City fan, with Pep now given almost three hours of match time to think about new, self destructive line up tweaks for the final,” quips Zach Neeley. He’s here all week. Try the black-pudding-based Scotch egg.
21 min: Nothing comes of the corner, but this is quite astonishing. City have been excellent from the get-go, but Real have been a jittery shambles so far.
20 min: More amateurish nonsense as Carvajal sends a simple backpass flying out of play for a corner. Real are here for the taking.
18 min: Kroos plays the corner short and, in conjunction with Carvajal, manages to balls it up in the inept style. The Real Madrid noggins are spinning and swimming right now. They need to get a grip quickly. If they’re not careful, City could put this out of sight soon.
17 min: Militao and Alaba didn’t look too clever there, either. Real really need their attack to get them out of this mess, because the defence doesn’t look too smart. Benzema tries to get something going, feeding Vinicius Junior into the City box on the left. Vinicius should return it with a pull back, but he goes for the spectacular curler instead. Blocked. Corner.
15 min: Foden brings Zinchenko’s raking left-flank pass down with an exquisite touch. From the byline, he rolls a tempting ball through the six-yard box. Courtois, clearly shaken, should claim, but, head addled, lets it roll across the face of goal. Real are very lucky that Jesus was back on his heels, and then that the flag popped up for offside.
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13 min: Ancelotti is now stunned enough to have stopped chewing altogether. He’s got the thousand-yard stare on. Elsewhere, the Etihad is in party mode, dreaming of Paris already.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-0 Real Madrid (Jesus 11)
City are in dreamland! Already! Foden scampers down the left touchline and cuts back for De Bruyne, who curls into the mixer. Kroos slashes at a clearance and doesn’t really connect, confusing Alaba on the edge of his six-yard box. Alaba is totally at sea, and the ball breaks to Jesus, who spins and can’t miss. He slams home. What a start!
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10 min: Ederson’s gift of a clearance apart, Real have achieved nothing. They’re struggling to retain any sort of possession.
9 min: That goal, though. Mahrez stroked the cross in delicately, and De Bruyne, having timed his run to perfection, could hardly miss ... though it was a brave header, Carvajal high-kicking nearby in extreme desperation.
7 min: Ederson’s dreadful pass out from the back is intercepted by Valverde, who returns it into the box with haste. Benzema tries to lay off to Rodrygo, but the cushioned pass is no good and City can clear their lines.
5 min: Carlo Ancelotti usually looks inscrutable, but he’s already on the touchline with arms crossed, chewing furiously. Not sure he’s been spotted masticating with such concerned intensity since Istanbul in 2005.
3 min: That came after one minute and 34 seconds. Such a simple but beautiful goal.
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GOAL! Manchester City 1-0 Real Madrid (De Bruyne 2)
What a start for City! After stroking it around for a little while, Mahrez swans in from the right, cuts back, and curls in for De Bruyne, who runs from deep to split the Real defence and meet the cross, steering the ball into the bottom left with a brave, controlled header from close range. Wow!
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1 min: “We’re not really here,” holler the home fans. The sweet-and-sour third-tier sugar rush of 1998-99 seems a long time ago.
Pep Guardiola emerges from the tunnel and shares a moment with Carlo Ancelotti. The mutual respect obvious as they embrace. Then a taking of the knee ... and City get the ball rolling. Here we go!
The teams are out! Manchester City wear sky blue, while Real Madrid trot out in second-choice dark blue. The coda to Hey Jude plays itself out. Blue and white City flags flutter around all four corners of the stadium. It’s quite the sight, the sound, the atmosphere. “Shades of David and Goliath in Pep’s decision to throw Stones at Benzema,” quips Peter Oh. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Pep talks to BT. “We adjust, adapt, and we will try to do our best.”
By contrast, this is only City’s third European Cup semi-final. They’ve got a 50-50 record so far, having been knocked out by Real Madrid in 2016, then sashaying past Paris Saint-Germain last year, 4-1 on aggregate. Here’s Barney Ronay on how the “Citizens versus Royals dynamic” may develop over the next eight days.
This is Real Madrid’s 31st European Cup semi-final. They win more ties than they lose - just, 16 to 14 - but they’ve had some semi shockers away from home through the years. They were humped 5-1 at Hamburg in 1980; lost 4-1 to Borussia Dortmund in 2013; and then there’s the famous 5-0 spanking handed out by Milan in 1989. For further details of that last rout, Rob Smyth is, like a pint of plain, your only man.
John Stones has passed a fitness test and will start - as much as one can second-guess Pep Guardiola’s tactical intentions - at right back. He’ll stand in for the injured Kyle Walker. Joao Cancelo misses out through suspension. Gabriel Jesus, fresh from his four-goal romp against Watford, keeps his place in the front three as reward.
There’s some good injury news for Real Madrid, too. David Alaba has recovered from a hamstring problem and starts in the heart of the Real defence.
The teams
Manchester City: Ederson, Stones, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko, De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, Foden.
Subs: Ake, Sterling, Gundogan, Grealish, Steffen, Fernandinho, Carson, Egan-Riley, Mbete-Tabu, Palmer, McAtee, Lavia.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Carvajal, Eder Militao, Alaba, Mendy, Valverde, Kroos, Modric, Rodrygo, Benzema, Vinicius Junior.
Subs: Vallejo, Nacho, Asensio, Marcelo, Lunin, Casemiro, Lucas, Bale, Ceballos, Isco, Camavinga, Fuidias.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania).
Preamble
Yeah, yeah, Real Madrid have been champions of Europe 13 times, while Manchester City’s tally stubbornly remains a big old fat round zero. But then lookie here at the two clubs’ all-time head-to-head record:
Real Madrid: P6 W2 D2 L2 F7 A7
Manchester City: P6 W2 D2 L2 F7 A7
Pep Guardiola, with reference to all those big-eared trophies in the display cabinet at the Bernabéu, says that “if we have to compete with history, we don’t have any chance.” You get his point, and yet history can be City’s friend, too, because it’s just two years ago when they beat Real 2-1 away and 2-1 at home, to knock the Spanish club out at the round of 16. It’s the last time they met, so surely those are the most pertinent numbers of all.
With both teams in the box seat to win their domestic leagues, this is a heavyweight clash between two in-form sides all right. Will old-school, sepia-toned glamour prevail, or is it time for the sleek modern superclub to seize the day? Both teams are three games from glory. Kick-off at the City of Manchester Stadium is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
