‘Madrid come out alive’: Spanish press admit Real got away with one in their 4-3 Champions League defeat by Manchester City… and even call Carlo Ancelotti’s side’s first-leg loss a ‘MIRACLE’
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Football fans are still catching their breath this morning following Manchester City and Real Madrid‘s thrilling Champions League semi-final first leg.
The European heavyweights played out one of the greatest Champions League matches ever on Tuesday evening with Pep Guardiola‘s side coming out 4-3 winners on the night.
City raced into a 2-0 lead and were 4-2 up after 74 minutes and the Spanish press admitted on Wednesday morning that Real got away with one.
The front page of SPORT read: ‘Madrid come out alive’ following Real’s 4-3 defeat by Man City
Marca called the first-leg loss to Man City a ‘miracle’ as its headline read: ‘Miracle to miracle’
The front page of SPORT read: ‘Madrid come out alive’ while Mundo Deportivo’s splash headline read: ‘Beating without knockout’.
City made a blistering start with Kevin De Bruyne scoring the fastest ever goal in a Champions League semi-final after heading the ball home inside 94 seconds.
Gabriel Jesus doubled their lead on 11 minutes as Real struggled to deal with the intensity of the Premier League champions.
Mundo Deportivo’s splash headline on Wednesday morning read: ‘Beating without knockout’
Spanish newspaper AS focused on work being needed in the return leg next Wednesday
Prolific striker Karim Benzema handed the Spanish giants a lifeline by netting before half-time.
Phil Foden restored City’s two-goal lead but Vinicius Jr pulled one back just two minutes later.
The excitement was not over as Bernardo Silva put Guardiola’s side 4-2 up before Benzema was ice cool to score a panenka penalty in the 82nd minute to take a 4-3 defeat back to the Bernabeu.
Spanish newspaper AS focused on work being needed in the return leg next Wednesday while Marca actually called the first-leg loss a ‘miracle’ as its headline read: ‘Miracle to miracle’.
Real came very close to being knocked out the competition prior to Tuesday’s clash, first by PSG and then by Chelsea, but turned both ties around to reach the last four.
Real striker Karim Benzema netted a brace at the Etihad to keep them in the semi-final tie
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