Man City and Real show fans have never had it so good

MANCHESTER : For 90 enthralling minutes in their Champions League semi-final on Tuesday, Manchester City and Real Madrid illustrated just how far elite-level European football has progressed in recent years and how much more entertaining for fans it has become.

It was not just the drama in a thrilling first leg - the fact that they combined for seven goals, with City coming out 4-3 winners, nor that Real kept the contest alive by three times reducing two-goal deficits, but the sheer quality that both sides brought to the Etihad Stadium.

The days when games in the latter stages of European competition, particularly first legs, were cagey, negative, tactical affairs, have thankfully gone, replaced by the kind of end-to-end action that brings to mind basketball's non-stop switching between attack and defence.

"Both teams want to attack and have the quality to play. Football is a fantastic spectacle," said City manager Pep Guardiola as he reflected on the game.

But it would be wrong to view the risk taking as cavalier or the high scoring as simply the result of poor defending. Teams at this level, as Real and City reminded everyone, are packed with extraordinary talent.

They have forwards who can score goals out of nothing, as striker Karim Benzema proved once again with his sublime flick to bring Real back into the game at 2-1.

The Frenchman is arguably the most clinical finisher in the modern game, although a case could also be made for another prolific Champions League scorer - Bayern Munich's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski.

City had started the night with a goal after 94 seconds from Kevin De Bruyne and the way that Pep Guardiola's side had Real's defence shaking early on had much to do with the performance of the Belgian