Real Madrid 1-1 Man City: De Bruyne's ball earns City draw at Bernabeu

Kevin De Bruyne equalized in stunning fashion as Manchester City earned a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.

The Belgian canceled out an equally brilliant first-half effort from Vinicius Junior when he fired past international team-mate Thibaut Courtois from the edge of the box after 67 minutes at the Bernabeu Stadium.

City, who were chasing hat-tricks, had dominated much of the start of the game, but holders Real drew first blood in a tense battle when Vinicius struck home from 25 yards after 36 minutes .

The result leaves the game delicately poised ahead of next week's second leg at the Etihad Stadium.

City came into the game looking to avenge their loss to Real at the same stadium last year and were unfazed by their return to the scene of their late capitulation in that draw.

>

They started strong, controlling the ball with their usual confidence and patiently looking to seize opportunities.

When opportunities presented themselves, they first found Courtois in a defiant mood.

The former Chelsea number one saved De Bruyne well before fending off an effort from Rodri and twice denying Erling Haaland.

Madrid rarely came out of their own half at first but warned of their threat when Vinicius broke down and crossed for Karim Benzema but the Frenchman failed to control.

As the first half wore on, the hosts entered the game and Ederson needed to be alert to prevent Benzema from reaching a through ball from Rodrygo.

The hosts took the lead after Eduardo Camavinga combined with Luka Modric and then brought on Vinicius. The Brazilian rushed the ball and unleashed a ferocious push that flew past Ederson.

City didn't panic in response, but then Real began to test their patience.

Jack Grealish had been abused by Dani Carvajal from the start and things threatened to spiral out of control when the Spaniard burst City's midfield into the billboards.

When Carvajal reached out an arm to help the Englishman up, Grealish tried to push him away and Carvajal threw himself to the ground theatrically.

Portuguese referee Artur Dias let this incident pass but showed his yellow card soon after when Toni Kroos fouled Ilkay Gundogan after one of several skirmishes between the German team-mates.

City manager Pep Guardiola was far from happy with the officials as the first half drew to a close and Real's spoiling tactics continued after the break.

City tried to avoid distractions and went close again when De Bruyne cleared, but Courtois reached out to save from close range. David Alaba made a nice tackle to prevent Haaland from shooting.

The visitors also had to defend and conceded a succession of corners before Federico Valverde narrowly fired.

However City weren't upset and they equalized in the 67th minute with a superb strike from De Bruyne.

This time Courtois had no chance as De Bruyne fired into the bottom corner just outside the box.

Real manager Carlo Ancelotti was booked amid some commotion on the touchline as De Bruyne celebrated.

Madrid finished strong and Ederson made some fine saves to avoid a header from Benzema and a long shot from Aurélien Tchouameni.