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Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola’s teams played out a six-goal thriller in Madrid on Tuesday night, with the exceptional finishing undoubtedly striking.
Real Madrid and Manchester City scored three apiece in their Champions League quarterfinal first-leg clash at Santiago Bernabeu in Tuesday’s 3-3 tie.
Real Madrid and Man City play out Champions League classic
Bernardo Silva scored after just two minutes, catching Andriy Lunin out from a free-kick with the Los Blancos goalkeeper expecting a cross.
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00:58 - 10.04.2024
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09:42 - 10.04.2024
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However, Eduardo Camavinga’s deflected shot went in off Ruben Dias 10 minutes later before Rodrygo put Carlo Ancelotti’s men 2-1 up moments after with a calm finish that deceived Manuel Akanji and Stefan Ortega.
Pep Guardiola’s men responded with two exceptional strikes after the interlude, with the in-form Phil Foden scoring a cracker just after the hour to level for the defending European champions, and Josko Gvardiol opened his City account with a right-footed pile-driver from the edge of the area that gave Lunin no chance.
That goal put Guardiola's troops 3-2 up, but the scoring was not done as Federico Valverde expertly converted a volley from Vinicius Junior's cross eight minutes later to level for 3-3.
How the statistics underscored outstanding finishing at the Bernabeu
Strikingly, four of the six goals netted on Tuesday were scored from outside the box, and Valverde’s volley was far from a high-value opportunity.
Thus, it was no surprise when Opta disclosed Real Madrid's 14 shots and City's 12 produced a combined Expected Goals (xG) of 1.5, a 4.5 variance unmatched in this campaign's Champions League.
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What comes next for Real Madrid and Man City?
Both sides return to domestic action this weekend before April 17’s reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium. Los Blancos are almost home and hosed in LaLiga when they travel to Real Mallorca, keen to preserve their eight-point lead over Barcelona with eight matches remaining.
Guardiola's men are a point adrift of Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, even if they could put pressure on the Premier League leaders by securing maximum points over Luton Town on April 13 before the Gunners host Aston Villa the following day.
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