Champions League Recap

Tuesday delivered two thrilling quarter-final first legs.

The first legs of the two standout ties of the Champions League quarter-finals lived up to the billing, with both matches finishing all square on Tuesday.

Some stunning goals saw Manchester City and Real Madrid play out a thrilling 3-3 draw, while Harry Kane did get his customary goal against Arsenal as Bayern Munich held the Gunners to a 2-2 draw at Emirates Stadium.

Phil Foden scored a screamer for Man City (Credit: Instagram - @mancity)

With both ties now finely poised ahead of the second legs next week, More Than A Game recaps all the action.

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BRILLIANCE AT THE BERNABEU

Madrid and Man City have served up some Champions League classics in recent seasons, and these familiar foes delivered once again at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Quite incredibly, the six goals scored came from a total xG (for both teams combined) of just 1.46 — 0.63 for Madrid and 0.83 for their visitors. That just goes to show how good some of the finishes were.

While there were elements of luck about Bernardo Silva’s clever opener, which required exceptionally quick thinking from the Portuguese, and then the quickfire own goal from Ruben Dias and deflected effort from Rodrygo, there was nothing fortunate whatsoever about the second-half strikes.

Having gone into the break 2-1 down, Pep Guardiola’s team controlled much of the second half, with that pressure finally telling when Phil Foden arrowed into the top-left corner with a sensational effort from just outside the penalty area. Five minutes later, Josko Gvardiol sent a right-footed piledriver into the opposite side of the Madrid goal to complete the turnaround.

But this is Madrid in the Champions League — the 14-time winners do not know when they are beaten. Vinicius Junior floated a cross over to the right-hand side of City’s area, where it was met by the onrushing Federico Valverde, whose crisp volley gave Stefan Ortega no chance.

City, who lost Foden to what Guardiola described as a “knock” late on, will fancy their chances heading to the Etihad Stadium, but Carlo Ancelotti’s team must not be discounted.

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