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Bernardo Silva celebrates his goal to make it 4:2
Photo:
OLI SCARFF / AFP
Missed expectations:
Around the 60th minute, Manchester City let the ball run through their own ranks and controlled the game while Real Madrid were deep in their own half.
That was exactly what was expected in the run-up to the semi-final first leg in the Champions League.
But it was an exception in a game reminiscent of two hugging boxers who had battered each other with breathless punch combinations in previous rounds.
Impact after impact:
In the 74th minute, Bernardo Silva grabbed the ball on the penalty area, dribbled a meter or two and shot almost seamlessly into the left corner.
A dream goal, 4: 2 for City, like a right hook for Real.
But a ko?
Definitely not.
Because there is probably no team in Europe with better resilience and there is currently no cooler striker than Karim Benzema, who, after missing two penalties in the league against Osasuna, now lobbed another one maddeningly relaxed into the middle (82nd) and thus the kept Real's hopes alive.
The result:
The 4:3 (2:1) should really be the final score.
Read the match report here.
The clichés:
It is often said that Pep Guardiola will "once again" screw up with faulty tactics in the crucial moments.
Or that Real can look bad in the first leg because the Madrilenians will celebrate another resurgence in the second leg anyway, led by greats Luka Modrić and Karim Benzema.
The question of the big winner or loser could not yet be answered.
What is certain, however, is that Benzema plays outstandingly, this season he has already scored 14 goals in the Champions League.
First half:
It took Carlo Ancelotti, who usually stood stoically on the sidelines, 13 minutes to withdraw for the first time for a father-son talk with assistant coach Davide.
Riyad Mahrez had already dribbled past lethargic Real players to play for Kevin De Bruyne (2').
And then Gabriel Jesus had wound himself around David Alaba, who had come into the game battered, and pushed in (11th).
City could have led 5-0 in a game that went up and down as Guardiola's team faltered in their own build-up.
This also caught the equalizer, Benzema took a cross directly.
And if Benzema takes the ball directly this season, then he's in (33rd).
Worrying defence:
Real Madrid are actually characterized by a stable defense and quick transitions through Vinícius Junior and Benzema.
Against City, however, Real ran repeatedly in the same or even underman situations in their own penalty area in the first round.
Defending in excess, which is already preached in the district league, apparently did not make it to the Champions League semi-finals.
Chief organizer Alaba also had to leave at the break after he had already started the game ailing.
"It's been better," said Alaba after the game on Prime Video.
Second half:
After the break things went on just as crazy as the almost 120 seconds between 3: 1 and 3: 2 alone showed: Both times Mendy, quick as an arrow, tricky as a winger, but unfortunately left-back, was looking for the real one Left winger Vinicius.
In the 53rd minute, Fernandinho injected the pass, launched and set up Foden's header with a cross.
In the 55th minute, Fernandinho anticipated again, but this time Vinícius let the ball through, sprinted towards goal with his almost unfair speed and slid in.
Scenes that show how important the little things are.
The hope:
Football is repeatedly criticized for being aloof, viewers turn away.
This is also due to thoroughly commercialized constructs such as City: Before the game, the club distributed thousands of flags to fans that covered the stadium in blue and white, and on Twitter, 100 of these fabrics were given away to supporters during the half-time break, who in return went to the Registered Club Homepage.
All a big marketing campaign.
But games like this make up for a lot.