Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-3 on Tuesday evening.
It was a thrilling game between two of the finest teams in European football that has set up a mouthwatering Champions League semi-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
City started fast at the Etihad Stadium.
Kevin de Bruyne opened the scoring in the second minute before Gabriel Jesus doubled their advantage in the eleventh.
But then Madrid rallied.
Karim Benzema pulled a goal back for the visitors in the 33rd minute only for City to respond at the beginning of the second half through Phil Foden, in the 53rd minute.
Vinicius Junior issued a response two minutes after that to make it 3-2 before Bernardo Silva scored City’s fourth in the 74th minute. Benzema then stepped up in the 82nd to score an audacious Panenka penalty and keep Madrid alive in the tie.
It was a magical night, exactly the kind of fixture that the Champions League was originally built to deliver.
And it’s set up an incredible second leg.
Because City are a different animal at the Etihad according to Marca; they’re undefeated in the last 20 European games they’ve played at home, winning 18 of them and losing two.
They’ve also won 12 of their last 13 games there, the sole draw being the 0-0 dead rubber they played against Sporting Club de Portugal in the second leg of the Champion League last 16.
Things will be different at the Bernabeu.
In Benzema they have the top scorer in the competition (14 goals to his name) and the first player in the history of the Champions League to score five goals away from home against clubs from the same country in the knockout stages of the competition.
