Player Ratings: Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid – 2021/22
Manchester City edge a seven-goal thriller against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final but Karim Benzema’s stunning Panenka leaves the tie finely balanced ahead next week’s second leg.
Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring for Manchester City with a header from a Riyad Mahrez cross after just two minutes. The Belgian then assisted Gabriel Jesus to double the home side’s lead after 11 minutes.
Out of nowhere, Karim Benzema managed to pull one back for Real Madrid with a brilliant first-time finish just before half-time.
Not long after the break, City restored their two goal advantage. Foden ghosted in at the back post to convert Fernandinho’s cross.
Almost immediately after Foden had scored, Vincius Jr responded for the visitors with a brilliant finish after a stunning individual run.
Bernardo Silva made it four for City with just 16 minutes remaining, taking full advantage of the referee waving play on at the edge of the Madrid box.
Karim Benzema made sure he had the final say of the night, scoring an outrageous Panenka after Laporte had handled in the box.
Real Madrid will undoubtedly be pleased with the result considering the amount of chances that Manchester City created. Everything will now be decided at the Bernabéu on the 4th of May.
Player ratings:
Starting XI:
Thibaut Courtois: 5/10
A surprisingly subpar performance from the Belgian. It remains debatable whether the keeper should’ve done better for City’s first three goals but there can be no doubt that he should’ve been more alert for City’s fourth.
Dani Carvajal: 4/10
Eder Militao: 2/10
Where to start. Tonight was hands down Militao’s worst performance in a Madrid shirt. The Brazilian was lost out there on the pitch and was one of the main reasons City had so much joy in attack.
David Alaba: 3/10
Back in the lineup for tonight’s game after originally being a big doubt. Judging by his performance, the Austrian arguably shouldn’t have played. Just like Militao, Alaba was all over the place in defence and was at fault for City’s second goal.
Ferland Mendy: 4/10
Luka Modric: 5/10
Fede Valverde: 5/10
Replaced the injured Casemiro in the centre of midfield. Valverde was far from his best and was run ragged by Manchester City’s brilliant midfield.
Toni Kroos: 4/10
Very poor performance from the German. Toni offered little to nothing going forward and was far from reliable when it came to the defensive side of the game.
Rodrygo Goes: 5/10
Rewarded with a start following a string of impressive performances. The Brazilian didn’t quite live up to expectation, making little to no impact during his time on the pitch.
Karim Benzema: 9/10
Vinicius Jr: 8/10
Substitutions:
Nacho: 5/10 – Came on to replace Alaba who was suffering from discomfort.
Eduardo Camavinga: 6/10 – Came on to replace Rodrygo. The young Frenchman looked sharp since coming on.
Dani Ceballos: N/A – Came on to replace Modric late on.
Marco Asensio: N/A – Came on to replace Vinicius late on.
