Kevin De Bruyne struck a stunning equalizer as Manchester City claimed a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid. The Belgian canceled out an equally brilliant first-half effort from Vinicius Junior when he fired past international team-mate Thibaut Courtois from the edge of the area after 67 minutes in the Bernabeu Stadium. Treble-chasing City had dominated a lot of the early play but holders Real drew first blood in a tense battle when Vinicius lashed home from 25 yards after 36 minutes. The result leaves the tie delicately poised ahead of next week’s return clash at the Etihad Stadium. City came into the fixture looking to avenge their loss to Real at the same stage last year and were not fazed by their return to the scene of their late capitulation in that tie. They started strongly, controlling possession in their usual confident manner and patiently looking to carve out opportunities. When the chances came they initially found Courtois in defiant mood. The former Chelsea number one saved well from De Bruyne before pushing away a Rodri effort and twice denying Erling Haaland. Real rarely got out of their own half early on but they did serve warning of their threat when Vinicius broke and centred for Karim Benzema but the Frenchman failed to control. As the first half wore on the hosts grew into the game and Ederson needed to be alert to prevent Benzema reaching a Rodrygo through-ball. The hosts snatched the lead after Eduardo Camavinga combined with Luka Modric and then played Vinicius through. The Brazilian sped onto the ball and unleashed a ferocious drive which flew past Ederson.
Source: Somali National News Agency