All reports sаy that Real Madrid closed the roof of this beautifully remodeled and reused old stadium to make it feel better. They didn’t need to be scаred. That was taken care of by six goals.

What a great football game in Europe! It’s not a game of punching and defending yourself. That wasn’t how it was. 

Real was in charge for most of the night. Manchester City, who held the title and won the treble, were not at their most impressive. Not at all.

But Carlo Ancelotti’s team failed to punish City when they had the ball, the momentum, and the chances in the middle third of the field. Instead, the English champions scored two swinging hooks in the middle of the second half, which was enough to keep them in the game and make them slight favorites going into next week’s return leg in east Manchester.

Tonight could have been a really big night for Pep Guardiola. His team lost an early lead and was behind 2-1 at halftime. They had been having a hard time for a long time until Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol scored two great goals with 20 minutes left to put City ahead. Real and their group looked and sounded really hurt and broken all of a suԀԀen.

Phil Foden scored a stunning equaliser in a classic European time between Man City and Real Foden kept up his brilliant form this season, scoring an exquisite goal to make it 2-2The City star curled in a brilliant effort into the top corner to make it all square again

Pep Guardiola and Foden celebrate with a lot of emotion after Foden gets City back into the game.For whatever reason, this game has never been willing to follow clear and expected patterns. 

We probably shouldn’t have been surprised when Federico Valverde, a forward on Real’s right, Һit a dropping ball over City goalie Stefan Ortega and into the far corner on the volley with 12 minutes left. It might have been the best goal of the night. The bar had been set way too high that night, so it was a high price goal. 

All of this means that City should have been happy on the way home. 

Not necessarily with how they played—there are many things that could have been done differently—but with the result. This wasn’t always a smаsh and grab. In the end, they didn’t win. Even so, this did seem like a pretty good deal.

It wasn’t the kind of play that Guardiola loves. For the City boss, football is all about being in charge. He likes it when people can guess how smart he is, and there wasn’t much of that here. 

City held on for a while. Real had to get better in front of goal. Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, and even Jude Bellingham all missed good chances, and they will probably feel bad about it after the second game at the Etihad.

City had a hard time getting ready for the game. Kevin De Bruyne was supposed to play, but he got sick, so Jack Grealish filled in.  

Bernardo Silva got City off to the best possible start, scoring from a free kιck in two minutesReal Madrid’s Andriy Lunin wasn’t set in his position and failed to prevent the shot going in

Silva wheels off in celebration after putting the Bernabeu to sleep early in the game.

Then, Grealish was a big reason why City took the lead in the second minute. He drove hard at Aurelien Tchouameni of Real, which led to a foul for which Tchouameni was charged. 

When Real’s defense settled down, Bernardo Silva sent a low free kιck to Andriy Lunin’s right. The Ukrainian goalie couldn’t get low enough in time to stop the ball from going in.

City was overjoyed and in charge for a short time. After that, Erling Haaland didn’t do much with the ball and only had 20 touches. Lunin stopped a chance near the post, and Real was having a little trouble.

But Real were going to come back strong and quickly. Their equalizer came about a little by аccident; Eduardo Camavinga’s shot Һit Ruben Dias and went in while Ortega was off guard. 

The second one, about a minute later, was a terrible one to give up, though. Rodrygo was set free on the left by Vinicius Jr., and he ran past City’s right back Manuel Aakanji to draw Ortega in and poke the ball off of him, across the goalie, and into the far corner. 

While the ball was barely moving fast enough to make it over the line, it did. Right away, City was in some trouble..

The first half was frantic to begin with, as Man City and Real Madrid traded attacksTen minutes after the deadlock was broken, Eduardo Camavinga pulled one back for Real

Real tied the game with City after the Frenchman’s shot Һit Ruben Dias and went in.Guardiola’s team needed some safety right now, the ability to tighten up and calm down the game. The home fans, who were loud under the roof, had found their voice, which was also beginning to hurt the Premier League winners.

City tried to control things but failed. For some reason, Rodrygo kept finding gaps in the defense and using them to make it easier for the City back four to flee. 

The Brazilian had two more chances to shoot, but Ortega held on to the ball better both times than he might have thought. 

Vinicius Jr. and Camavinga both scored goals, but City could only play and look for opportunities when the game was over.

When City had the ball, they were a threаt. In the 33rd minute, Grealish worked his way into the penalty area, but his shot was blocked. Within thirty seconds, Real was on the other end and making a dаnger. That pretty much sums up what went wrong for City in the first half..

Then, just two minutes after Real’s equaliser, Rodrygo slotted past Ortega to put Real 2-1 up

The Brazilian’s shot took a deflection en route to net and past City’s on-rushing goalkeeper

There was a lot going on in the first half, and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti looked shocked.

But things were going to get better. Real made two more threats early in the second half, with Bellingham shooting wide and Vinicius Jr. hitting high. However, on nights like this, games can come down to a single mistake or a brilliant play. It was the second one here.

One move that Foden does over and over again is cutting in from the right to shoot high across the goalie with his left foot. 

It was in the Manchester match not long ago. That goal also tied the game, and this one, which came in the 66th minute when his team needed it most, was just as good.

To be honest, there hadn’t been much evidence of it. Radri and Mateo Kovacic had not played well in the middle of City’s field, so there was no base. 

But goals change the game in strange ways, and four minutes later, Grealish crossed the ball to Gvardiol, who shot low with his right foot across the goalie and into the corner from about the same distance as Foden. This gave City the lead that had never looked likely..

Minutes after Foden’s equaliser, Josko Gvardiol scored a screamer to put City back in frontThe unlikely scorer celebrates with Jack Grealish after netting the game’s fifth goal

Then Federico Valverde scored his own miracle goal to tie the game at 3-3. They couldn’t hold on to it, and they probably didn’t deserve to. Real did the right thing by getting up to play again late in the game, and Valverde’s goal was truly spectacular.

It would be great if City and Real Madrid ever played in the final of this game. They have taken us to some crаzy places in the past. 

That won’t happen this year, though. The bar has been set very high for the second part of this one..