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Top Winners and Losers After Tuesday's Champions League Semifinals Leg 1 Results
April 26, 2022
Just another banger in this year's UEFA Champions League. Were you expecting anything less?
Manchester City topped Real Madrid 4-3 in Tuesday's semifinal between the clubs, an open and exciting affair that somehow left a few goals on the pitch, if you can believe that. And it was just the first leg. Expect even more fireworks when the tie heads back to Madrid.
Taylor Twellman @TaylorTwellmanWhat a fantastic game at the highest of levels. Two managers, two teams that have “gone for it”. You don’t often get it like that but we have. <a href="https://twitter.com/realmadriden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realmadriden</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ManCity?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ManCity</a> 🤌🏼💪🏼 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCL</a>
Below, we'll break down the day's winners and losers. And then we'll take a moment to catch our collective breaths.
Winner: City's Relentless Attack
The Sky Blues just carved Madrid apart, as they do to most teams that attempt to play an open game against them. It only took under two minutes for Kevin De Bruyne to get the home team on the board.
CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ @CBSSportsGolazoTHE PASS FROM MAHREZ. THE FINISH FROM KDB.<br>95 seconds in, Manchester City score the fastest goal in a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCL</a> semi-final. 🔥 <a href="https://t.co/sTCu9KzhDF">pic.twitter.com/sTCu9KzhDF</a>
And the floodgates opened from there:
This wasn't City facing Everton—this was Real freaking Madrid. And Manchester cut through Los Blancos like a machete through butter on a summer day.
City is a juggernaut. At least going forward, that is.
Loser: Real Madrid's Defense
Two things can be true at once—City was effervescent going forward, but Real Madrid's defense didn't exactly put up a fight.
Los Blancos are still kicking, but it isn't because of the defensive effort.
Winner: the Individual Brilliance of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior
Every single week there is one constant—Karim Benzema finds himself in the winner's section of these articles.
So it's no surprise to see him here yet again, as an absolute sublime redirection led to Real Madrid's first goal and his icicle-veined Panenka on a penalty earned Los Blancos their third goal:
Sandwiched between the Frenchman's brilliance was Vinicius Junior, with a turn on makeshift right back Fernandinho so brilliant it made the City man look like he was fighting for his life in quicksand. Of course, Vini wasn't done there, racing into space before slotting home a lovely finish.
Real Madrid is lucky to head home down just a goal in this matchup. Brilliance from its attacking pair has kept the club afloat.
Loser: City's Chances to Bury Madrid
Poor Riyad Mahrez.
The City winger probably left three goals on the table in this one, missing an obvious cross to an open teammate on the attack, hitting the post on another attempt and narrowly missing a tight angle on a third attacking play.
But there was Aymeric Laporte's handball. City failing to have anyone in position to track Vinicius on the counter. Fernandinho having to moonlight at right back after John Stones had to come off injured.
It felt like classic City in the Pep Guardiola era—Champions League glory right in front of the Sky Blues but somehow wanting to slip out of their grasp.
Perhaps they'll handle business in Madrid. But even on a day when they scored four goals, this felt like a missed opportunity.