(Football news) A UEFA Champions League semi final is always filled with drama and the first leg between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium was no different. Both the teams were missing key players as Manchester City were without the suspended Joao Cancelo and the injured Kyle Walker. Real Madrid on the other hand were missing their midfield tank in Casemiro. The gap left by these players was clearly felt in both the teams.

Manchester City started the game in the best possible way by going 2-0 up inside 11 minutes. Kevin De Bruyne scored a header from Riyad Mahrez's cross before assisting Gabriel Jesus for the 2nd one. Real Madrid started to control the game a little bit more and slowly managed to put City on the back foot. Karim Benzema latched onto a Ferland Mendy cross in the 33rd minute to pull a goal back. John Stones who was a major doubt going into the game started at right back but could only last 36 minutes before being replaced by Fernandinho. The same thing happened with David Alaba who was replaced at half time by Nacho.

8 minutes after the restart, the substitute Fernandinho showed his class as he put an inch perfect cross for Phil Foden who restored City's two goal cushion. The Manchester City captain's night big moment didn't last for long as just 2 minutes later he was nutmegged by a Vinicius Jr dummy after which the winger ran half the length of the pitch before calmly hitting the ball in the back of the net. In the 74th minute, Toni Kroos fouled Oleksandr Zinchenko just outside the box. The referee had the whistle in his mouth but didn't blow it as Bernardo Silva played the advantage and smashed home City's 4th goal. The entire Real Madrid defence just stood still and Thibaut Courtois didn't even try to save the near post shot.

8 minutes before full time Toni Kroos whipped a free kick into the Manchester City half which struck Aymeric Laporte's arm. The referee pointed to the spot and Karim Benzema who missed two penalties in Los Blancos' last game against Osasuna stepped up. He showed incredible courage to perform a Panenka spot kick right in the middle of the goal. The match ended at 4-3 even though Manchester City outplayed Real Madrid in the majority of the game. The home side missed so many chances as they hit the post and also had a shot cleared off the line. The game was very entertaining for the neutral and is definitely a contender for game of the season.

Both the teams were very bad defensively but Real Madrid couldn't control the game enough to put pressure on the Citizens. Had Real Madrid started the game better they could've exploited City's right back situation more as Vinicius Jr is more than capable of running all over John Stones and Fernandinho. Unfortunately for the visitors, the Brazilian didn't have many chances to do so and the one time Vinicius did get the chance he scored. Real Madrid cannot be happy with a loss but will be confident of pulling another comeback. Both Casemiro and David Alaba should be back for the return leg where Madrid could come in as La Liga champions.

Also read: Real Betis make contact with Isco over potential summer move