- Real Madrid hosted Manchester City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final on Tuesday evening
- The match ended in a 1-1 draw with Manchester City forced to equalise a Vinicius Jr opener
- Real Madrid have an awful record when they failed to win the first leg of a UCL knockout at Santiago Bernabeu
Real Madrid vs Manchester City Champions League are just great matchups and never disappoint.
Their matches defy logic and reason, with Tuesday night’s match settled by two superstars hitting the ball incredibly hard. Real Madrid opened the scoring through Vinicius Jr when they appeared to be at their weakest, but Kevin De Bruyne levelled for the visitors during Los Blancos’ strongest run of the game.
Carlo Ancelotti’s emphasis on the individual is diametrically opposed to Pep Guardiola’s painstaking attention to the team, yet the ideological mismatch makes for breathtaking and often perplexing watching. These games make no sense, but there is beauty in their unpredictability.
Nonetheless, with the tie tied at 1-1 heading into next Wednesday’s second leg at the Etihad, City would have been the happier of the two teams at the final whistle. Real’s record in this competition isn’t exactly flawless when they fail to win the opening leg at home.
READ: Kevin de Bruyne scores to salvage a draw against Madrid
Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Manchester City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final at Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday, May 9 2023. | PHOTO: Sky |
Real Madrid should overturn awful Champions League record when they visit Manchester City
Los Blancos have failed to win the opening leg at the Bernabeu nine times in the Champions League, and have only progressed twice. Both of these victories occurred in the second leg against Manchester United.
Real Madrid were held to a draw by Fergie’s Red Devils in the first leg of their quarter-final encounter in 1999/00 before winning the return leg 3-2 at Old Trafford. Fernando Redondo was in attendance.
Real reached the semi-finals and won the competition after defeating Valencia 3-0 in the final.
Old Trafford welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo back to the Theatre of Dreams for the first time since he left for Madrid in 2009, but it was the Portuguese superstar who broke Mancunian hearts. A Sergio Ramos own goal placed United up on the night but two quick goals, the second from Ronaldo’s boot, flipped the game on its head.
Real advanced to the quarter-finals as 3-2 aggregate winners after United drew 1-1 at the Bernabeu.
However, as previously stated, these are the only two instances in which Real advanced to the following round despite failing to win the first leg at home. They’ve been eliminated seven times, with the most recent cases (Man City in 2020 and Chelsea in 2021) being against English clubs.
Arsenal (2005) and Liverpool (2009) were also eliminated from the competition after defeating Real Madrid in the first leg at the Bernabeu.
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