MADRID – Real Madrid and Manchester City drew 3-3 in a frantic first leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, with the first three goals coming in the opening 14 minutes before the rivals exchanged blows again in the second-half.
In the other first-leg quarter-final, Arsenal and Bayern Munich drew 2-2 in London.
Federico Valverde scored a 79th-minute equalizer for Madrid after City had rallied with Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol scoring goals five minutes apart midway through the second half at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Bernardo Silva had put City ahead two minutes into the match, but Madrid rallied with an own-goal by City defender Ruben Dias in the 12th and a score by forward Rodrygo in the 14th.
The second-leg will be next Wednesday in Manchester.
It is the third consecutive encounter between the clubs in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Madrid eliminated City in the semi-finals in 2022, while City got the best of Madrid at the same stage last year. Both teams went on to win the title after eliminating their rivals.
The match at the Bernabeu went on as scheduled despite of a possible terror threat by the Islamic State, with no security incidents being immediately reported.
City struck early when Silva sneaked in a low free-kick shot that went past the wall and caught Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin off guard by the near post.
Madrid equalized after a shot from outside the area by Eduardo Camavinga deflected off Dias to wrong-foot City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.
Rodrygo put Madrid ahead after breaking through the City defense to get to a pass by Brazil teammate Vinícius Júnior in front of the area. Rodrygo´s shot deflected off a defender´s leg and slowly rolled past Ortega and into the net.
Foden evened the match again with a superb shot into the top corner in the 66th, then five minutes later Gvardiol put the visitors ahead again with a powerful strike into the far corner.
Valverde’s equalizer came with a neat low volley from inside the area.
The result extended Madrid´s 28-match unbeaten streak in all competitions, as well as City’s 26-match unbeaten run across all tournaments.
City had to cope with the last-minute absence of playmaker Kevin de Bruyne, the Belgian international who was ill and had to be dropped from the starting lineup of manager Pep Guardiola. De Bruyne vomited after the team arrived at the Bernabeu, though he warmed up with the substitutes before the match and started on the bench.
Guardiola was also without captain and first-choice right back Kyle Walker because of an injury, though Gvardiol, who had been listed as doubtful, started in the left-back position and ended up scoring a decisive goal.
Madrid had eight full days to prepare for the match as there were no Spanish league matches this weekend. City had only two full days to get ready after playing in the Premier League on Saturday.
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