UCL: Thrilling Madrid-City semi-final first leg encounter ends in draw

Ayomikun Elemikan Sports 09/05/2023

Manchester City held holders Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) semi-final first leg tie at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne’s thunderous shot cancelled out Vinícius Júnior’s first half worldie.

Vinícius Júnior drew the first blood as Manchester City and Real Madrid played out a 1-1 draw on Tuesday night in their UCL semi-final first leg game (Image: Twitter)

City know a win at the Etihad next Wednesday will secure a date with either Inter Milan or AC Milan in the final of the competition.

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The English side dominated proceedings and forced Thibaut Courtois to a fantastic save courtesy of a De Bruyne shot. The former Chelsea goalkeeper also denied Rodri and Erling Haaland.

However, Vinícius Jr netted against the run of play, shooting from 25 yards out, to a complete perplexing of the visitors.

Real dominated a section of the second half, but City rallied back into the game when De Bruyne’s ferocious shot flew past Courtois into the Madrid goal.

Kevin De Bruyne’s screamer levelled the scoreline for Manchester City against Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final first leg match (@TheEuropeanLad)

Substitute Aurélien Tchouaméni came close to landing a vital winning goal with a strike from range but for Ederson’s strong palms.

With the draw, Pep Guardiola’s side remain unbeaten in 21 games in all competitions. This is a run which includes 17 wins. The Cityzens are still very much alive for a treble this season.

All to play for at Ethiad

Haaland didn’t see enough of the ball, Grealish performed well especially in the first half, Bernardo Silva did his thing and the English champions had more of the ball.

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Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga (right) excelled as a makeshift left-back against Manchester City in the UCL semi-final first leg match (Image: @Squawka_Live)

Vinícius Jr. was a disturbance, Benzema had his moment, Modric – a blessing, and the entire Madrid team will now look forward to an opportunity to make a final that could put them in a good position to win a 15th Champions League title.

Surely, this UCL semi-final first leg tie between City and Madrid is a final before the final. There’s all to play for in the return leg come next week.