Beauty without heartbreak - Real Madrid and Manchester City must play the same way next week in Champions League

The finest match of the season so far should not change Real Madrid and Manchester City's approach in the Champions League semi-final second leg next week. It is rare in football and in life that you get something so eventful that does not end in heartbreak and disappointment.

Usually for every frantic high you are awarded with in your existence, it is followed-up by a reality check, or at least a sweaty hangover. Ad/> However on Tuesday night, two brilliant teams, perhaps the two best in the world right now, demonstrated just what they can do when they trust the desire to locate the goal and batter it, and neither of them need to come away with anything but a determination to prove themselves all over again next week.

Champions LeagueWill Jurgen Klopp usurp Pep Guardiola as the world's best coach?5 HOURS AGO For much of the week, there had been speculation as to how Pep Guardiola would tinker to pull off a surprise. Would he put Gabriel Jesus as a right-back? Would Riyad Mahrez come in as a false nine? Would Raheem Sterling play in boots made of ice? Could a packet of salt ‘n’ vinegar Squares function as an inverted winger? Instead, Guardiola trusted the work he has done over the past few seasons at the Etihad, the instructions on the training ground and the hundreds of millions spent on amassing the squad he wanted while funded by petrodollars.

City have given him carte blanche to act as he sees fit, and the club have been rewarded with Premier League titles, domestic trinkets, and no Champions League trophy yet. But on Tuesday — for one leg of the tie at least — they have the advantage when it comes to the second leg.