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The Spanish and English rounded off a close match in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal at the Santiago Bernabéu. The ‘Merengue’ team took the lead with a mid-distance shot from Vinicius Jr.; while Kevin de Bruyne signed the 1-1 in the complement, in a controversial maneuver where the people of Madrid claimed that the ball had gone out. The rematch will be next Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium.
The semifinals of the 2022/23 edition of the Champions League began this Tuesday, May 9, with a duel between the two main candidates for the title: at the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid hosted Manchester City. The 1-1 draw leaves the key wide open for the rematch at the Etihad Stadium.
The start of the game had the ‘Citizens’ as owners of the ball and with the local withdrawn, narrowing spaces near their own goal. However, the English could not generate situations for Thibaut Courtois. Just a few shots from outside the area by Rodri Hernández and Kevin de Bruyne demanded the goalkeeper.
With the passing of the minutes, those led by Carlo Ancelotti managed to get ahead in the field. The opening of the scoring occurred in the 35th minute. Eduardo Camavinga made a great personal maneuver from the defensive zone, set up Vinicius Jr. in three quarters and the Brazilian unattackable a powerful shot for Ederson.
From there, Real Madrid grew and dominated the process until the end of the first half. For its part, the visit was unable to establish itself and re-impose the development conditions.
In the plug-in, the ‘Merengue’ team came out with confidence and subdued City during the first 20 minutes. With control of the ball, at minute 49, a great collective maneuver ended in a high shot from Karim Benzema.
Courtois had to intervene to avoid the rival tie by covering a one-on-one with De Bruyne. However, nothing could be done after 66 minutes, when the Belgian midfielder unleashed at the door of the area after a short assist from Ilkay Gündogan to make it 1-1.
In the final quarter of an hour, Real Madrid sought victory, but ran into a high level goalkeeper Ederson. The Brazilian first saved a point-blank header from Benzema; then, seconds from closing, he managed to deflect a strong shot from Aurelien Tchouameni.
Finally, the first ‘boy’ of the semifinals ended in an equality that leaves both in equal conditions for the rematch. At the Etihad, Josep Guardiola’s men –who today had a poor performance from their two figures, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland- will have the opportunity to make up for last season’s elimination; or if, on the contrary, Madrid revalidates its status as owner of the Champions League.
Starting tomorrow, the second semifinal will also open, which pits Inter against Milan in the Derby Della Madonnina.
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