Champions League Semifinals: Odds shorten for Man City to progress, following home advantage against RMA

RMA will be disappointed to take nothing from the first leg, however, having secured an away goal the tie remains very much alive. In the previous phase of the competition, Man City won against Atletico Madrid; RMA, for their part, managed to beat Chelsea. Carlo Ancelotti’s squad will not be bruised by the loss, but will take heart from having found the net. It not only strengthens their position in the tie, but shows they can score against their opponents.

Man City started strongly in the first half, with an early goal from Kevin De Bruyne in the 2nd minute. The momentum was now with Cityzens, who then scored again through a goal from Gabriel Jesus at the 11 minute mark to establish a 2-0. Los Blancos in turn, then responded, 33 minutes in increasing their lead with an effort from Karim Benzema. The first half ended 2-1.

Cityzens started strong in the second half and were able to dominate, thanks to a goal from Phil Foden, at 53 minutes. However, RMA weren’t lying down and managed to pull back a goal from Vinicius Junior, 55 minutes in. However, Man City increased their lead following a Bernardo Silva goal at the 74 minute mark to make it 4-2. In the end though, RMA hit back though, at 82 minutes, with a 2nd effort from Karim Benzema and seeing the game end 4-3.

Both managers used the full entitlement. For Man City, Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling, came on for John Stones and Gabriel Jesus, RMA brought on Nacho, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos and Marco Asensio to replace David Alaba, Rodrygo, Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior.

There were bookings for Fernandinho from Man City. For RMA, Nacho saw yellow.

It’s very much advantage The Skyblues, going into the 2nd leg of this tie. However, results such as this have been turned around in the past and we will see in the next match, who progresses to the final.