Real Madrid 1 Man City 2: De Bruyne finally ends curse from the spot after Jesus equaliser as Ramos sees red
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FAIR play to Manchester City, they are not going to be dragged off the Champions League stage without a hell of a fight.
Now could UEFA’s bad boys really climb up off the naughty step and on to the winners’ podium in Istanbul in May?
After this their most impressive result in a European knock-out tie, you would not bet against it.
One-down and rocking with just 13 minutes to play, Pep Guardiola’s men snatched victory as the brilliant Kevin De Bruyne set one up for Gabriel Jesus, then slotted home a penalty won by sub Raheem Sterling.
And with Real skipper Sergio Ramos sent off late on for cynically denying Jesus a second goal, City are red-hot favourites to progress to the last eight - perhaps even carrying the honour of English football squarely on their own shoulders.
Just a fortnight after being handed a two-season ban for breaking UEFA’s Financial Fair Play, City stormed the barricades of European footballing aristocracy with a breakthrough result.
City were neat and patient in the first half, missed a series of good chances early in the second, but were rattled when Isco was gifted an opener in the hour.
Yet overall they thoroughly deserved this, Guardiola benching key players yet coming up smelling of roses at the stadium where former Barcelona boss is hated most.
If victory was sweet for City’s manager, then it was sweeter still for their supporters who gleefully sang ‘f*** UEFA!’ as their team dominated the final minutes.
This is not a vintage Real side. Especially with Eden Hazard injured and Gareth Bale benched until late on, this was a Real line-up relatively low on stardust.
The era of Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Galacticos before them, is gone - yet Zinedine Zidane’s men have lost only twice in La Liga this season and the 13-time champions of Europe will always have lustre in the competition which defines them.
The only thing louder than the Gary Glitter music still weirdly played here as part of the big-match build-up, was the booing of Gaurdiola’s name from the home supporters.
The travelling City fans up in nosebleed corner did their best to drown out the Champions League anthem with whistles and boos, as was customary even before the ban.
Four years ago, they’d come here to see City play their one and only Champions League semi-final, losing by just a single goal but producing a strangely flat performance in the dog days of Manuel Pellegrini’s reign.
Guardiola had made one of his typically wonky bigh-match selections - no Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho or Real’s most-wanted Sterling, with Jesus wide left and De Bruyne as a false nine.
His team-sheets for Champions League knock-out matches have a touch of the Jackson Pollocks about them - some see genius, others just a weird mess.
And it was a quiet start, more like an old-school European Cup tie, with Real pawing at City, sizing them up, wondering to make of it all.
City were all in black, although - given UEFA’s view of them - you wouldn’t be surprised had they turned up in black and white hoops with black facemasks.
But 20 minutes in, De Bruyne slipped one through to Jesus who cut inside and drilled low for Thibaut Courtois to get down low and push away.
Soon after, an even better save from Ederson - Ferland Mendy swung in a centre, Benzema headed hard and low and City’s keeper pushed it out, where Vinicius Junior stumbled when he ought to have snaffled the rebound.
Then Aymeric Laporte - the man who had stabilised City’s defence since his recent return from a long injury - went down clutching his hamstring and had to be replaced by Fernandinho.
Overall, though, City were looking tight at the back and neat on the break, quieting the home crowd effectively.
And just before the break they almost seized the lead when Courtois flapped at a De Bruyne corner and Jesus shot and Sergio Ramos almost sliced into his own net.
After the interval, Mahrez bent a shot just wide after De Bruyne had led a breakaway, then the former Leicester man skinned Ferland Mendy and had a shot pushed away by Courtois.
And then Mahrez was sent clear by a gorgeous lofted through-ball from Ilkay Gundogan only to see his shot beaten away by Real’s former Chelsea keeper.
But just as City were beginning to take control, Real caught them with their pants down.
Otamendi and Rodri got in each other’s way and lost possession before Kyle Walker missed a tackle on Vinicius, who squared for an unmarked Isco to pop it in.
The Bernabeu’s passions rose, Real seemed to sense blood, while City’s confidence plunged - Pep’s men sudden error-prone and Ramos having a volley deflected over.
Guardiola responded by slinging on Sterling and soon after De Bruyne looped a cross in for Jesus to angle a header back over Courtois almost in slow motion.
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And seven minutes from time, Sterling slipped past Dani Carvajal who floored him with a heavy challenge.
De Bruyne sent his international team-mate Courtois the wrong way from the spot.
And then Real’s evening got even worse still as Ramos bundled over Jesus and got his marching orders from the March 17 return at the Etihad.
UEFA would hate it if City went all the way. It would be wickedly funny if they did so.
