Real Madrid 3-3 Manchester City: All square after epic first leg

Real Madrid and Manchester City drew an extraordinary first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu in a UEFA Champions League quarter-final full of drama, quality and goals.

Match in brief: Thriller finishes level

A classic match in Madrid ended all squareGetty Images

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti's 200th Champions League match is not one the Italian will forget in a hurry as a pulsating, scintillating encounter more than lived up to the lofty pre-match billing.

The game got off to a remarkable start, City midfielder Bernardo Silva scoring against Real Madrid for a third successive season as he caught out goalkeeper Andriy Lunin with a clever free-kick after only two minutes to stun the Bernabéu into silence.

Just ten minutes later, though, Madrid were level, Eduardo Camavinga's effort from outside the box taking a wicked deflection off City defender Rúben Dias to wrongfoot Stefan Ortega.

That gave the hosts momentum, and two minutes after equalising they took the lead, Rodrygo running onto Vinícius Júnior's delightful pass and poking a shot through Ortega's legs with the help of a touch off Manuel Akanji.

There was no let-up in the action in the second half, both teams missing chances before City's prodigious midfielder Phil Foden collected a John Stones pass and unleashed a delightful curling shot into the top corner for his fifth goal in his last six Champions League appearances to level at 2-2.

Five minutes later Joško Gvardiol chose the perfect time to score his first-ever City goal, crashing an unstoppable long-range strike inside Lunin's left-hand upright.

But just when it looked like City would be taking an advantage home to Manchester, Federico Valverde met a Vinícius Júnior cross with a stunning low volley to take the roof off the Bernabéu.

In the end there was nothing to choose between the sides, with football the real winner in this most entertaining of matches. Fans will now be counting down the days till the return in Manchester on 17 April.

PlayStation® Player of the Match: Phil Foden (Man City)

"Great partnership with Bernardo Silva, displaying faultless technical ability and hard work. Came up with a key moment when he found the top corner of Madrid's goal. An influential, hard working and stylish performance."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Graham Hunter, Real Madrid reporter

Because this is Madrid, because this club has won the Champions League/European Cup 14 times, because this stadium has been host to marvels and magic, the general sentiment is: "We've seen it all!"

Yet even the Bernabéu hasn't marvelled at too many nights like this. This was magical, irrespective of whether you were Madrid or City, and a hymn of worship to European football. Daring, crazy, frantic, clever and without any quarter asked or given. This is why football, the European competition specifically, was invented. Magic.

Steve Bates, Man City reporter

Fantasy football in the "We attack, you attack" basketball mode. This will go down as a Champions League classic. It had everything. A fast and furious start, then stunning goals by both teams to take the breath away.

Advantage rests with City heading back to Manchester, but having been ahead twice, they might be annoyed at surrendering the lead. How on earth these two sides top this at the City of Manchester Stadium next week is anyone's guess. Bring it on!

Reaction 

Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid coach: "This was a well-balanced game, both teams really competed to the limit; it was a hard-fought draw. For as long as we pressed them, we were in very good shape. We tried hard to take advantage of our capacity to play quick-transition football. We obviously wanted to take some sort of advantage into the second leg but I think we need to be satisfied with a lot tonight. We competed very well and if we do that again next week then we can go through."

Federico Valverde, Real Madrid midfielder: "We let them off the hook, and didn't press well enough. City have really good players; they work really hard. We need to be fuelled by a sense of 'revenge' and go to Manchester full of hunger to qualify for the semi-final. Overall this was a great football match."

Josep Guardiola, Man City coach: "I think that was a really good, entertaining match which dignified this competition. Both teams wanted to attack, in different ways. What I liked most was how we played in the second half at 2-1 down. We showed composure, we controlled the game really well. In Manchester it will be a sell-out in our stadium, our fans will try to help us score the 1-0, then we'll do the rest. The team that wins next week goes to the semi-final."

Joško Gvardiol, Man City defender: "What a game. It was the first time for me playing here at this stadium, an amazing atmosphere. Of course, we'll take the result and look forward to the home game. I'm happy with my first goal for Man City, especially against a great opponent."

Key stats

• Real Madrid featured in their 39th European Cup/Champions League quarter-final tie – a competition record.
• The draw ended City's ten-game winning run in the Champions League, a sequence that started with the 4-0 defeat of Madrid in last season's semi-final second leg.
• That defeat in Manchester is Madrid's only loss in their last 15 Champions League matches (W12 D2).
• Madrid have scored in every home Champions League knockout game since a 2-0 loss against Barcelona in the semi-final first leg in April 2011.
• City are unbeaten in 22 European matches (W16 D6), since a 3-1 defeat at Madrid in the semi-final second leg in May 2022.
• Guardiola's City have scored three goals in each of their nine Champions League matches this season, the first team to hit three or more in nine successive games in the competition.
• City have lost only one of their last 13 games against Spanish teams (W8 D4).
• This was only the second knockout match in the Champions League to feature three goals in the opening 14 minutes, after Manchester City vs Tottenham in April 2019, which was 2-2 after 11 minutes.

Fantasy star performers

Phil Foden: 11 points
Joško Gvardiol: 11 points
Bernardo Silva: 9 points
Federico Valverde: 9 points

Line-ups

Real Madrid: Lunin; Carvajal, Tchouameni, Rüdiger, Mendy; Valverde, Kroos (Modrić 72), Camavinga, Bellingham; Vinícius Júnior (Joselu 86), Rodrygo (Brahim Díaz 71)

Man City: Ortega; Akanji, Stones, Rúben Dias, Gvardiol; Rodri, Kovačić; Bernardo Silva, Foden (Álvarez 87), Grealish; Haaland