Champions League: Real Madrid vow to stage another magical comeback at the Bernabeu

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti was correct in saying that his club will suffer against Manchester City in their UEFA Champions League tie. Indeed, Los Blancos were made to suffer and were quite lucky to come away with just a 1-goal deficit after the first leg was won by the Sky Blues 4-3 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuessday night. Real Madrid will now be seeking yet another magical European night to stage a second-leg comeback at the Santiago Bernabeu on May 4.

Real Madrid faced injury troubles in the backline heading into the first leg in Manchester, and even though David Alaba and Ferland Mendy were able to play, they were clearly not fully fit. Coupled with the absence of Casemiro, it was a defensive disaster for Los Blancos. Manchester City exposed that weakness almost immediately, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring the opening goal for the hosts within the first two minutes.

Real Madrid looked shell shocked, especially after Gabriel Jesus doubled the lead just ten minutes later. However, the 13-time European Champions are known to keep fighting until the end, and it was no other than Karim Benzema who pulled one back in the 33rd minute.

Early in the second half, Phil Foden scored another goal for Manchester City, but two minutes later, Vinicius Jr. made a brilliant breakaway run to keep Real Madrid just a goal down. City had several other attempts in between that were denied by the woodwork or they were simply unlucky.

Bernardo Silva did manage to find the back of the net in the 74th minute, but a penalty scored by Benzema in the 82nd minute kept Real Madrid within striking distance for a possible comeback at home next week. The truth is, City could have scored at least three more goals, and Los Blancos were lucky to have kept the gap narrow.

"We have to be ready, We are going to fight for another magical night," said Ancelotti after the match, calling on the Bernabeu faithful to come out in full support of the club.

"Karim played a great game, as always. He had the personality to take the penalty spectacularly," said the manager, as quoted by Marca. The goal was a relief for Real Madrid fans, coming off the heels of two missed penalties by the Frenchman in the game against Osasuna in La Liga last week.

The Italian also defended his decision to substitute Luka Modric. "Modric had a great game, but sometimes you have to put on a fresh player for 10-15 minutes to help you get the ball," he said. "I didn't take him off because he was playing badly. Ceballos did very well, he came on with a lot of personality."

Looking forward to the second leg, Ancelotti vowed to learn from their mistakes. "We have to defend better. We did well with the ball, with many chances. For the second leg we have to defend better, it's too important."

Meanwhile, Manchester City will know that they can't be over-confident especially against Real Madrid in the Champions League at the Bernabeu. This season alone, they have already come back from the dead to eliminate both Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea FC in the last-16 and quarter-finals respectively.