By Aiwu Esele
The first leg of the semi- final UEFA champions league between Champions Real Madrid and Manchester City ended in a 1-1 draw with fire works from both sides all through the thrilling match.
Vinicius put Real Madrid in front with stunning 25-yard powerful strike in the 36th minutes of the game.
Undaunted, City piled the pressure and got the deserved equalizer through a De Bruyne low strike from edge of box in the the 67th minutes. It was like a replay of Vinicius’ s superb kick on the first half goal.
Rodri had won the ball back outside the box and located Jack Grealish who in turn picks out De Bruyne. And in a twinkle, he smashes it into the bottom left corner from a long way out, catching Thibaut Courtois unawares.
The tie looked unlike a repeat of last year’s semi-final which Real Madrid won 6-5 on aggregate. Madrid had won the first leg at the Bernabu 3-2 and lost the return leg at Etihad 4-3. With Tuesday’s draw, City looks bright to pull off the tie if they sustain the pace and swift coordination in today’s match.
Winner will face Inter or AC Milan in final in Istanbul on 10 June. Both Italian teams meet tomorrow for the semi tie.
