MY ACCOUNT
On April 26, 2016, Manchester City and Real Madrid played out a tepid 0-0 draw in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final at the Etihad Stadium.
Back at the same ground, in the same round of the same competition six years later, they produced a spectacle that had the contrast cranked up to the maximum.
It was the joint-highest scoring semi-final in the competition’s history, and it was a story that twisted and turned from the first minute until the last.
But the opening chapter reached its conclusion with City holding a 4-3 advantage after an enthralling 90 minutes.
A start for the history books
City pressed Madrid high from the off and it was shortly after regaining possession in the final third that Kevin De Bruyne made a phenomenal dart into the box to head home Riyad Mahrez’s pinpoint delivery.
There were just 95 seconds on the clock, making it the quickest goal in Champions League semi-final history. The previous mark was 2 minutes 44 seconds, which was set by Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich against Madrid in May 2018.
It did not stop there, though. De Bruyne picked out Gabriel Jesus, who, after a somewhat fortuitous first touch, guided a cool finish beyond Thibaut Courtois to make it 2-0.
Madrid had never before conceded twice in the first 11 minutes of a Champions League match and it looked like they could be seriously up against it with Mahrez, Phil Foden and Oleksandr Zinchenko all going close.
Benzema brings it back
It has already been the best season of Karim Benzema’s career and he showed just how important he has become to Madrid in his 600th appearance for the club – the most by a non-Spanish player.
He got in front of Zinchenko to steer home a brilliant volley from the edge of the box in the 33rd minute for his 40th goal of the season. The Frenchman now belongs to an exclusive club of just five players to hit that mark in a single campaign for Los Blancos, joining Cristiano Ronaldo, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano and Hugo Sanchez.
No let-up
Madrid lost their best defender in David Alaba at half-time and the momentum they had built before the break quickly dissipated.
Los Blancos concede an average of five more shots per game when Alaba does not feature and City had already had four efforts on goal – two of which came when Mahrez hit the post and Foden saw his goal-bound follow-up blocked by Dani Carvajal – before restoring their two-goal cushion through Foden in the 53rd minute.
Makeshift right-back Fernandinho, who replaced the injured John Stones in the first half, set up Foden with an excellent cross but his defending belied his years of experience just two minutes later. Vinicius Junior got the better of his fellow Brazilian with a clever dummy by the halfway line, and no one could catch him before he tucked the ball into the bottom-right corner.
It was the first time two players aged 21 or younger had scored in the same Champions League semi-final match.
Don’t look away
The drama was far from over, though. Bernardo Silva capitalised when referee Istvan Kovacs wisely played the advantage following Toni Kroos’ challenge on Zinchenko by slamming the ball into the top-left corner in the 74th minute.
City consequently became the first English side to score four against Madrid in the Champions League since Liverpool in March 2009. It would have been five had Mahrez been able to add a finish to his coruscating run.
But Aymeric Laporte inexplicably handling a cross enabled Benzema to score his ninth goal of the knockout stages – a Panenka from the penalty spot moving him one adrift of Ronaldo’s record (10) from Madrid’s triumphant 2016-17 campaign. The Portugal captain (13) is also the only player to have scored more Champions League semi-final goals than Benzema’s seven.
Madrid were unable to stop Pep Guardiola claiming a 12th win in his 20 meetings with them across his entire coaching career, though. The Catalan’s record in the semi-final has been met with a lot of questions, but he has never been eliminated after winning a first leg at this stage.
He will hope to get the job done at the Santiago Bernabeu and get a chance at redemption after last season’s final defeat to Chelsea.
