madrid, Apr 10
Defending champions and English club Manchester City and Spanish giant Real Madrid played a 3-3 draw in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League 2023-24 quaterfinals at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Madrid.
Although the home crowd was hoping for a great showing from their team, they were forced to settle for a draw on Tuesday. Madrid will face stiff opposition in the next leg of this quarterfinal on April 18 at the Etihad Stadium.
Portuguese midfielder Bernado Silva scored the game’s first goal in the second minute of play with a masterful freekick conversion for the visitors.
Drama erupted in the first minute of play when Aurelien Tchouameni fouled Jack Grealish and was given a yellow card.
He will therefore be absent from the second leg at Etihad.
After giving up an unexpected first goal, Los Blancos attempted to exert control over the game. In the twelfth minute, City defender Rodri gave them a reward for their persistent aggressiveness when he scored his own goal to tie the score at 1-1.
The goal was like an ointment for the frustrated Madrid fans and they soon began to chant ‘Hala Madrid’! (Go Madrid) throughout the stadium.
After an incredible low-short goal by Brazilian winger Rodrygo to make it 2-1 in the eighteenth minute, the home team finally took the lead for the first time in the match. They celebrated with a Siuuu, which is officially a Cristiano Ronaldo celebration.
In the 66th minute, Phil Foden gave City an equalizer to make the score 2-2. City attempted to equalize early in the second half of the game, pushing forward but were stopped by the Madrid defense.
The game became considerably more intense after this equalizer, and there were numerous fouls from both teams, which heated up the atmosphere in the stadium. Josko Gvardiol netted a screamer just after the five-minute mark to give the visitors the lead again, 3-2.
The tension began to boil up among the Madrid fans and at the Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid once again came level with a goal from Valverde to make it 3-3, which was the scoreline at the final whistle.
Real Madrid coach Carlos Ancelloti was not happy with the scoreline and stated that “what I wanted was to take a small advantage, but we have to be satisfied. We have competed and if we do so in the second leg, we can go through.”
