De Bruyne rocket leaves Man City and Real Madrid level

Kevin De Bruyne's brilliant drive earned Manchester City a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid in a gripping Champions League semi-final first leg battle on Tuesday.

AS IT HAPPENED | Real Madrid 1-1 Man City

The Belgian slammed Pep Guardiola's visitors level after Vinicius Junior opened the scoring for the reigning champions from distance in similarly spectacular fashion.

Madrid managed to completely shackle lethal striker Erling Haaland but De Bruyne's powerful effort left the tie on a knife edge ahead of the second leg in Manchester next week.

The record 14-time winners knocked City out at the same stage last season despite being outplayed in both games, and took the lead at the Santiago Bernabeu against the run of play.

KEVIN DE BRUYNE FROM RANGE ????We're level at the Bernabéu and it's another cracking strike!?? Stream #UCL live: https://t.co/Tg69y0EeUL pic.twitter.com/vL5XAbf2kK

However when Madrid found their stride in the second half, City - still chasing their first ever Champions League trophy - hit back through De Bruyne.

Madrid central defenders David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger did not give Haaland room to breathe.

"We have to see if we can attack (better), Alaba and Rudiger were so close on Erling," Guardiola told reporters.

"It was not easy to find the spaces. We'll try to adjust something in the second leg to be more fluid and play with a bit more rhythm."

The visitors controlled much of the first half, with nearly 70 percent possession, but went in trailing at the break.

Thibaut Courtois fielded an early barrage of shots from De Bruyne, Rodri and Haaland, as City dominated and Madrid sat back, soaking up the pressure.

The hosts took the lead through a lethal counter-attack 10 minutes before the break, with Eduardo Camavinga