UCL results: Real Madrid, Man City settle for draw as Arsenal hold Bayern

April 09

22:44 2024

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Three goals were scored in each half as Real Madrid and Manchester City played out an entertaining 3-3 draw in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarter-final first-leg encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu in Spain on Tuesday.

The enthralling encounter in a packed stadium filled with white-wearing fans unfazed Man City, the UCL champions, who showed their pedigree as one of the best teams in the world in recent seasons.

Meeting for the third successive season in Europe, it was Man City that took the lead two minutes into the clash through Bernardo Silva’s free-kick following a foul by Aurelien Tchouameni.

Real would turn the tie around with two goals in two minutes; Edouardo Camavinga’s speculative long-range strike taking a wicked deflection off Ruben Dias on its way into the net on 12 minutes, and Rodrygo’s stroked shot which trickled into the net off a quick counter-attack on 14 minutes.

The home side had chances to increase their lead before halftime but failed to take any, and City made them pay early in the second half with a brilliant turnaround. First, Phil Foden was afforded space around the penalty area and he planted a shot into the top far corner on 66 minutes, before Josko Gvardiol repeated the trick to score his first goal for the Manchester club from 25 yards to make it 3-2 on 71 minutes.

Federico Valverde again restored parity with a volley from Vinicius’ looping pass on 79 minutes to set up a frantic clash.

The final minutes produced no further drama and the tie will be decided at Man City’s Etihad Stadium next week Wednesday.

In the second first-leg tie of the night, Arsenal needed a Leandro Trossard goal in the second half to salvage a 2-2 draw against arch-nemesis Bayern Munich, despite Bukayo Saka’s early opener for the Gunners.

Serge Gnabry, a former Arsenal youngster, had equalized for the Bavarians before Harry Kane, a former Tottenham striker, put Bayern in the lead from the penalty spot. The German champions could not hold on to the lead and will look to finish off the tie in Germany next week.