Pep Guardiola said he had to tell his players that they had beaten Real Madrid 4-3 in a Champions League classic on Tuesday, even though they didn’t win their semi-final match at the Etihad on Monday. There were four goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden, and Bernardo Silva for Pep Guardiola’s team.
They had a two-goal lead three times in the game. But Karim Benzema scored two goals, and Vinicius Junior did a great job on his own to give Real Madrid hope of another famous Champions League comeback at the Santiago Bernabeu on May 4.
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Guardiola said that letting Liverpool stay “alive” in the Premier League title race after a 2-2 draw at the Etihad nine days ago was a mistake. He will have the same regrets after a blistering start that could have seen City go 4-0 up inside half an hour.
“I want to try to convince my players that we won the game and that we have to play the same way we did today when we go to the Bernabeu,” said Guardiola.
If we had won by one goal or four, it didn’t matter. In Bernabeu, you have to show who you are, or there is no chance. A good test for us.
Manchester City beat Real Madrid in the first round of the Champions League semi-finals. It was the Spanish team’s 30th semi-final to Madrid’s third.
After only 92 seconds, the Madrid backline was broken open by Riyad Mahrez’s quick feet and a perfectly timed cross for Kevin De Bruyne to head past Thibaut Courtois.
After just 10 minutes, Jesus scored to make it 2-0 when David Alaba couldn’t handle De Bruyne’s cross, which made it 3-0.
Ancelotti, the manager of Real Madrid, said that his team had a bad start to the game and was too soft in giving up the goals.
A lot of people liked what the team did after that.
It’s time to improve our defense. With better defense in the second leg, we’ll win. If we don’t, we’ll have to leave.
It was a significant loss for the Spanish champions-elect because Casemiro didn’t play. City ran through midfield on the counterattack at will.
Guardiola was very angry with Mahrez after he smashed the ball into the side-netting while Foden was waiting for the cross for a tap-in.
It looked like an easy goal when De Bruyne’s ball went through Foden’s hands.
Benzema rouses the Madrid crowd.
When Real Madrid lost to Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in the previous two rounds, Benzema pulled them back from the dead. Before the half-time break, he did the same thing again.
As a cross from Ferland Mendy went in, the Frenchman cushioned his goal off the post. It was his 40th goal of the season!
He said, “We didn’t give up.” Sometimes, you have to smile and let it go. We did that. Excellent: “City is a great team, but they worked hard and got the three goals.”
Yet, Madrid did an excellent job stabilizing the ship at the end of the first half, but it didn’t last long. After the break, Madrid had another slow start.
He hit the post when one-on-one with Courtois. Dani Carvajal then blocked Foden’s follow-up on the line, but it was too late.
After John Stones was hurt in the first half, Fernandinho was forced to play right-back for him.
This is how it worked: The City captain had a big part in both goals.
First, he set up Foden to give City a two-goal lead again.
The 36-year-old showed his age when Vinicius ran away from his Brazilian compatriot from the halfway line and then slid past Ederson.
City kept coming up with chances at an alarming rate for Ancelotti, but when they finally got the fourth goal, it took a lot to make it happen.
There was a foul on Oleksandr Zinchenko on his way to the goal, but the Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs took advantage. Silva slammed home into the top corner.
Despite being inches away from scoring, Mahrez missed a chance to put the tie to bed for a second time.
Eight minutes later, Aymeric Laporte got into the area and did something.
This is how it worked: Benzema chipped the spot-kick right in front of everyone to make sure the tie was still going back to Madrid.
