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 Thibaut 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 Federico Valverde.
Ten minutes before the break, the dam broke. Eduardo Camavinga shot up the pitch and released to Vinicius before Bernardo Silva was able to lay a glove on him, and Vinicius let the ball roll across his body before smashing it first time with incredible power and speed past Ederson.
Just like last season in this fixture, Real had scored with their first shot on target after looking second-best. From a City point of view, at least they had an hour to respond, but it was another tough one to swallow.
So too was the officiating. Only referee Artur Dias will know why he thought playing into a packed penalty area was more of an advantage than having a free-kick on the edge of the area, but City were more concerned with the lack of protection.
Carvajal was a serial offender on Grealish yet managed to avoid a booking despite a remarkable one-two where he cynically shoved City's No.10 into the advertising boardings and then tried to con the officials into thinking he had been felled by a 'lashing out' Grealish. On the stroke of half-time, Toni Kroos flew in late on Ilkay Gundogan and by that point City were just relieved to see anyone given a yellow.
City knew coming into this that they could not rely on officials to go through just as they knew their form coming into the match would not guarantee a result. To their credit, they did not get distracted by this.
Save for a wobble immediately after the Vinicius thunderbolt, there was no collapse as there had been 12 months ago. Guardiola's side stabilised themselves and got back to their patient, possession game.
It is just really, really hard to beat this Real Madrid team. Even when Haaland got his first sight of goal, ten minutes into the second half, an excellent touch taking Gundogan's through-ball into the box, his effort was blocked impressively by David Alaba.
Having suffocated Real of possession in the opening part of the game, City increasingly found themselves desperate for release as the home side and their fans turned the screw; every corner or tackle won was roared on by supporters wanting their team to show the ruthlessness that makes them the biggest of beasts in this competition. For all the attempts to depict Haaland as a monster, Real take some slaying.
City may have picked up a trick or two from last year's heartbreak and the fiend that did it to them, for with their backs against the wall they took a page out of the Los Blancos playbook. Rodri won a loose ball back two-thirds of the way up the pitch and Grealish and Gundogan teed up De Bruyne to arrow past Courtois in the same net that Ederson had been beaten in.
Real were furious, unhappy with an incident earlier in the build-up, yet the goal stood and City had turned the table on the champions of it with 20 minutes to go. Game very much on.
Real pressed on but City held out, leaving something for both managers to be pleased about and plenty of nails for fans to shred all over again in this tie poised so finely. Ancelotti got what he wanted, dispelling the idea that his team would be crushed with another fine performance to remind everyone why his team still reign supreme across the continent.
Even if Haaland was kept quiet, City can be satisfied with the way they dug in during the difficult spells of this match. Their unbeaten run ticks over to 21 and they will fancy their chances at the Etihad, where they have been particularly strong this year.
As much as Guardiola will look for his team to enforce their own game next Wednesday, he certainly won't mind them borrowing from the Real playbook again.
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