Man City borrow Real Madrid trick to fight back in Champions League tie

Magician 1-1 Machine.

What was billed rather colourfully on the front of a Spanish newspaper on Tuesday as a battle between Vinicius Jr and Erling Haaland actually fits for the two teams, and the juggernaut unbeaten in 20 games that will not rest until they have conquered world football went to the home of the masters capable of conjuring something out of nothing again and again.

And, in this Champions League semi-final first leg, again. It turns out 14 cups hasn't satisfied the king, although a second-half fightback from the Blues ensures this high-quality contest is all square at the halfway point.

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For the first 10 or 20 minutes, the crowd could not quite believe what they were seeing; Real Madrid simply couldn't get a kick as Manchester City played the ball around them, dominating possession and forcing Thibault Courtois into early saves. A whopping 70 per cent possession in the opening 20 told of City's dominance, with Jack Grealish causing problems when not scrapping with Dani Carvajal.

As time went on though, and City continued to dominate without really carving the home team open, the looming thought: maybe Real are happy with it. Maybe they are content to be without possession if they aren't exposing their goalkeeper too badly, and know they can pounce when they can have the ball.

A loose ball from Rodri gave the first whiff of danger just before the half-hour mark, with Ruben Dias sliding across Ederson to stop the cross from Vinicius reaching Karim Benzema. Grealish was next to suffer jitters near his own box, and it was only a poor control from Benzema with his arm that stopped anything more coming of a stonking run from