Result: Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City
Date: 26 February
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu
The Santiago Bernabeu was stunned into silence as Manchester City rallied from behind to defeat Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League last 16 tie.
There were a couple surprises in both line ups, as Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez started ahead of Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling while Zinedine Zidane opted to leave Toni Kroos on the bench.
After a relatively quiet opening, Jesus came close to justifying Pep Guardiola's surprise selection after 19 minutes but the Brazilian striker saw his effort brilliantly palmed away by Thibaut Courtouis.
Los Blancos should have broken the deadlock ten minutes later when Ferland Mendy sent a cross to the far post but Karim Benzema saw his header saved by Ederson while Vinicius Junior was unable to convert on the rebound.
Guardiola was forced into a re-shuffle minutes later as Aymeric Laporte's evening ended after 33 minutes due to injury. He was replaced by Fernandinho at the heart of the defence.
Despite the injury set-back, City went agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock just before the break as Jesus' deflected effort was cleared off the line by Valverde.
It was all Man City in the second half, with Mahrez going close in the opening 10 minutes although Courtois was on hand to ensure the scores remained level.
However, it was Los Blancos who broke the deadlock on the hour mark as Vinicius Junior pounced on an City defensive error before picking out Isco, who slotted into the bottom corner.
With 12 minutes remaining in the contest, the Citizens managed to level matters as Kevin de Bruyne twisted and turned in the box before picking out Jesus, who nodded past Courtois.
City were then awarded a penalty two minutes when second-half substitute Raheem Sterling was brought down by Dani Carvajal, allowing De Bruyne to slot home from 12-yards out.
It went from bad to worse for the home side as captain Sergio Ramos was shown a straight red card for bringing down Jesus, who was through on goal in the 85th minute.
Mendy did go close to bragging an equaliser for Los Blancos in time added on but the Citizens were able to hold on for a crucial 2-1 lead to take back to Manchester City.
