MANCHESTER, United Kingdom —
Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4–3 in an incredible Champions League semi-final first leg on
Tuesday.
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AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from a
thrilling clash at the Etihad Stadium:
Guardiola’s
emotional rollercoaster
Punching the air both in
ecstasy and agony at various times during an astonishing contest, Manchester
City manager Pep Guardiola rode an emotional rollercoaster on the touchline.
For such an accomplished manager, Guardiola has
endured a frustrating time in the
Champions League over the last decade.
The Spaniard hasn’t won the competition since 2011,
when Barcelona lifted the trophy for the second time in his reign.
His record is littered with painful and unexpected
defeats during his City and Bayern Munich reigns.
Guardiola did lead City to their first Champions
League final last season, but even then his side appeared unsettled by his
curious team selection in a limp 1-0 defeat against Chelsea.
However much he protests, Guardiola would dearly
love to silence the critics who remind him of his European failures and that
ambition was laid bare in his frenzied reactions to the twists and turns
against Real.
Guardiola clenched his fists and wore a wide smile
after
Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus put City two up by the 11th minute.
But Guardiola saw the worst as well as the best of
his scintillating team, with a host of missed chances and some slipshod
defending allowing Real back into a tie in which they should have been dead and
buried.
When
Riyad Mahrez fired into the side-netting
instead of passing to the unmarked Phil Foden who would have had a tap-in for
3–0, Guardiola was incandescent with rage, leaping off the bench as he ranted
and raved while flailing his arms in frustration.
City’s profligacy continued in the second half, with
Mahrez and Foden guilty of misses that left Guardiola holding his head in
disbelief.
With a second leg still to come on May 4, Guardiola
will be back on the rollercoaster at the Bernabeu.
Real refuse to surrender
Rocked by City’s blistering
start, Real yet again defied expectations with a stirring fightback.
Real had already staged memorable escape acts in the
last 16 against Paris Saint Germain and the quarter-finals against
Chelsea when
they appeared to be heading towards elimination.
With the 13-time
Champions League winners on the
ropes once more, Karim Benzema’s predatory instincts gave them a lifeline with
a deft finish in the 33rd minute.
If Benzema, a
four-time Champions League winner, is the figurehead of Real’s old guard, then
Vinicius Junior represents a potentially vibrant future and he underlined the
point with a breathtaking goal just moments after Real had fallen 3–1 down.
The 21-year-old Brazilian embarrassed Fernandinho
with an audacious dummy that sent the ball through the City player’s legs,
allowing Vinicius to showcase his electric pace as he raced clear to slot past
Ederson.
Incredibly, even City’s fourth goal wasn’t enough to
subdue Real and
Benzema struck with a flamboyant ‘Panenka’ penalty in the 82nd
minute to keep the tie on a knife-edge.
The 34-year-old is now this season’s Champions
League leading scorer with 14 goals.
Brilliant De Bruyne
Pep Guardiola believes Kevin De Bruyne is playing better than ever and
City’s sublime midfielder didn’t disappoint when the stakes were highest.
The 30-year-old suffered a difficult first half of
the season marred by fitness problems.
But he has been back to his brilliant best in recent
weeks as City try to hold onto their one-point lead over
Liverpool in the
Premier League, while aiming to win the Champions League for the first time.
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