Jamie Carragher believes Real Madrid are "very lucky" to still be in their Champions League semi-final clash against Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola's side defeated Real 4-3 at the Etihad on Tuesday evening, with the second leg taking place in the Spanish capital next Wednesday. City stormed into a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus, and they were leading 4-2 before Real's talisman Karim Benzema scored an audacious late penalty.
Carlo Ancelotti's side will be confident of overturning the deficit at the Bernabeu after doing so against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16. Real have won the Champions League a record 13 times, while City are aiming to lift their maiden European crown.
"Champions League at it's best with the Manchester City vs Real Madrid game," tweeted Carragher at full-time. "Real Madrid are very lucky to still be in it! The defending was awful throughout - especially from Madrid - but Benzema keeps them alive!"
Football fans were thoroughly entertained by Tuesday's seven-goal thriller. "They have given us some exceptional football this evening," Alan Shearer told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Both teams were really open but when you look at it from a neutral point of view - the goals, the atmosphere... it's just been an unbelievable night."
Benzema, who's now scored 14 goals in 10 Champions League games this term, certainly believes Real can overturn City's one goal lead in Spain. "The game has only just begun... we are Real Madrid!" tweeted the Frenchman at full-time.
Will Manchester City or Real Madrid reach the Champions League final? Let us know in the comments below!
Speaking to the press, Benzema added: "A defeat is never good because we are really excited about the Champions League. The most important thing is we never lay down our arms, we are all in this until the end. Now we have to go to the Bernabeu and we will need our fans like never before and we are going to do something magical, which is win.
"I always have it in my head that if you don’t take a penalty, you will never miss a penalty. That’s mental confidence and that's all. I have a lot of confidence in myself... so I do it and it turns out well."
Ancelotti also believes Real can reach the final. The other semi-final will be contested by Liverpool and Villarreal, with the first leg taking place at Anfield on Wednesday evening. "I am a supporter of football of course," said Ancelotti.
"It was a fantastic game. As manager of Real Madrid I have to take consideration that we scored three goals, which is really important. We didn't defend well. We can do better. We concede two goals early in the game and then we are able to react really well.
"We kept the game open until the end. Now we have a great dream to play the second game in the Bernabeu and we hope to have the chance to go to the final.
"The first 20 minutes were really difficult but slowly we were able to come back into the game to keep qualification open. We need this [magic] as we are going to play against a really string team. We competed today and we need to do that more in our stadium."
