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Real Madrid faced Manchester City in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League at Los Blancos' home ground, Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The clash ended in a 3-3 draw on Tuesday, April 9, keeping both teams under pressure for further qualification.
The match gained momentum within its first two minutes with City's midfielder Bernardo Silva opening the score. Madrid's equalizer came with center-back Rúben Dias' own goal in the 12th minute followed by Rodrygo getting them the lead two minutes later. While the first half ended in a 2-1 lead, Phil Foden equalized in the 66th minute while Joško Gvardiol took the lead in the 71st.
The last goal of the match and Real Madrid's final equalizer came from Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde in the 79th minute. Although Manchester City have not lost a single Champions League home game since 2018, the 25-year-old said via Mirror:
"There’s always a first time. You always have to believe, to have conviction, us especially."
Valverde maintained his confidence in his club and continued:
"We're an example of that, so that the fans believe. We are the first to believe it can be done. We have to work hard, every player has to give everything in every ball - and if we all pull in the same direction I think we can do it."
Los Blancos will play against Manchester City in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League at the Etihad Stadium on April 18.
"It’s very even. We're two of the best in the Champions League, we’re two very good teams. They have that plus of playing at home, but we will bring the fight and try to do the best. We're going to fight, as we always do. We have lots of players who have won five Champions Leagues, so we have to make that count," the central-midfielder concluded.
Fede Valverde joined Real Madrid from Penarol in 2016 and has contributed 20 goals and 23 assists in 247 games, winning many honors. They include two La Liga titles (2019–20 and 2021–22), the 2022–23 Copa del Rey, and the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, among others.
Real Madrid boss thinks the squad could have played better against Manchester City
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was not completely impressed with how his squad performed in the clash against Manchester City. He said:
"Great match, it was an advert for football, but it was always going to be that way given the quality that was on the pitch. Whenever we had the chance to keep the pace high, we controlled the game well. They punished us with two goals that flew straight into the top corner."
Ancelotti added,
"A draw was a fair result. Knowing that we fought with them on level terms gives us a lot of confidence heading into the return leg. The only regret is for some opportunities that we could have done better with when the scores were at 2-1."
Prior to the last fixture, Real Madrid met Manchester City in the semi-final of the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League. It ended in a disappointing 5-1 aggregate loss for Los Blancos as City went on to win the treble.
