Haaland poor, Vini Jr. superb in Man City-Real Madrid draw - ESPN

MADRID — Vinicius Junior and Kevin De Bruyne each scored superb goals from outside of the box as Real Madrid drew 1-1 with Manchester City in Tuesday's Champions League semifinal first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois was the busier goalkeeper in the first half, saving shots from De Bruyne and Rodri. Madrid threatened when Vinicius Junior almost found Karim Benzema inside the 6-yard box, before Vinicius put them ahead in the 36th minute, firing past goalkeeper Ederson from distance.

After halftime, Courtois saved well from De Bruyne — only for the offside flag to go up — before De Bruyne put City level with a clinical finish. Ederson saved Benzema's header as Madrid pushed for a second, but it ended 1-1, with the tie to be decided in the second leg on May 17 in England.

Last year's Champions League semifinal clash between Real Madrid and Manchester City set the bar sky high. It started with a thrilling first leg at the Etihad, where Man City emerged victorious but only just, in a 4-3 win that didn't reflect their superiority. It was then followed by an all-timer of a second leg at the Bernabeu, with Madrid somehow scoring three goals in added time to go through.

How could this season's semifinal possibly live up to that? This first leg didn't. But it was still a fascinating contest.

City were on top throughout the first half — registering 68% possession, almost twice as many touches, and six shots — but Madrid were quite happy to sit back, defend deep and wait for their chance to come. For Real Madrid in the Champions League, those chances do always come.

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Here, Vinicius put them