LIVE: Real Madrid, Man City Play for Place in Champions League Final vs. Liverpool

There were plenty of fireworks in the semifinal first leg between Manchester City and Real Madrid; Wednesday’s second leg is widely expected to be pure chaos.  

Man City led throughout the seven-goal, first-leg thriller at the Etihad but was never able to pull away from Real Madrid. At three different points in the first leg, starting with two goals in the first 11 minutes, the defending Premier League champions held  a two-goal lead only to see Real cut its deficit in half each time. 

Once again, Karim Benzema came to Real’s rescue with a two-goal performance. On each occasion, the French international pulled the Spanish giants back from the brink—once in the 33rd minute and again in the 82nd with an incredibly cold-blooded Panenka penalty while trailing by two goals late. 

Man City must now go into the Santiago Bernabéu with a one-goal advantage against a Real side that has already orchestrated epic comebacks against Chelsea and PSG in the Champions League knockout stages.

The winner of the tie will then go on to the Champions League final against Liverpool on May 28 in Paris. 

The Bernabéu was rocking from the start, and the home crowd was nearly rewarded in the fifth minute by Benzema. The striker had a clear chance at goal with a header right in front of goal, but his chance soared over the crossbar. 

Man City returned with a series of long-range efforts in the first 15 minutes courtesy of Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne, but it was nothing that Thibaut Courtois couldn’t handle. 

The start lacked the frenetic energy and disorder of the first leg with neither side able to capitalize on a serious chance. In the 18th minute, Real seemed to have another promising chance in front of goal but Vinícius sent another chance over the bar. 

City forced Courtois into a save in the 20th minute when Bernardo Silva’s half-volley came close to extending the English side’s aggregate lead. But the Belgian was there to keep the game scoreless. 

While City recorded four shots on goal in the first 40 minutes, Real continued to miss the target. Phil Foden forced Courtois into action once again in the 40th minute with a quick chance right off a long free kick from City’s defensive third, but Courtois remained steady. 

Vinícius followed with another chance that seemed to have potential inside the penalty area, but Kyle Walker showed his prowess at right back with a quality stop.

Stay tuned here for live updates and highlights of goals and key plays from throughout the match (refresh for most recent updates).

Here are the starting lineups for Wednesday’s semifinal second leg: 

Real Madrid XI 

Man City XI

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