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Manchester City and Real Madrid set for intriguing Bernabéu Battale

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Manchester City and Real Madrid played out a 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie. It was a draw that both sides will find reason to be satisfied with, though each will have their own concerns ahead of the return leg at the iconic Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

It is not immediately obvious who got the best result. For Zinedine Zidane’s Madrid, they have managed to leave Manchester with a positive result and will undoubtedly fancy their chances of scoring on their own turf. There was a clear sense that the visitors were happy to accept the draw and so there was a limit to the risks they took when trying to open City up. As a consequence, the Blues rarely looked troubled at the back. Gael Clichy and Jesús Navas in particular did a fine job of keeping superstar Gareth Bale out of the game; his only meaningful contributions were some extremely soft penalty claims. Quite how he didn’t get a yellow card for diving will remain one of life’s unsolved mysteries.

This should give City confidence for the trip to Spain. If they were able to convincingly shut out a side with such a wealth of attacking options once, why shouldn’t they be able to do it again? Well, there is one reason to consider – Cristiano Ronaldo. The superstar goal-machine was absent from this tie but, though he remains a doubt for the return game next week, it is possible that he will be back. That changes things. One only needs to consider the last round to see what a game-changer he remains. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg against Wolfsburg, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to rescue Madrid and set up the tie with City.

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City could keep him out of the game even if he does play. If Vincent Kompany, Nicolas Otamendi, Fernando and Fernandinho display the same kind of form next week then Madrid will find it difficult to break through, lead by Ronaldo or not. The one area from which Madrid will draw real hope is how well they dominated City when attacking set pieces. On two occasions, Joe Hart made magnificent saves to prevent his goal from being breached. England’s Number One always produces something special on Champions League nights; this fixture was no exception.

The clean sheet was vital for the tourists. It gives them a solid base to build on in the home leg without having to claw back a deficit like they did in the last round. They will have gone home satisfied but with the knowledge that a scoreless draw was a good, but not great result.

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The same can be said of Manuel Pellegrini’s City team. For them, the major advantage is that they did not concede an away goal. The obvious consequence of this is that if they were to score any goals in Madrid, they would put themselves in the box seat. Once City hit the net, Ronaldo and co will have to score one more goal than the Blues; a draw becomes a disaster for them.

City can afford to be tentative in the opening exchanges of the second leg. Madrid will have no option but to attack because they can’t risk falling behind; the Blues can, in theory, concede a goal without the reward for scoring one changing. Given that City can be devastating on the counter-attack, they should be happy to let Madrid go for it in the early stages and look to exploit any gaps they leave. Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Agüero will fancy their chances of having a deadly impact.

The tie remains delicately poised. Each side can place a very positive spin on the 0-0 draw obtained in Tuesday’s match. City will feel that they have mandated Madrid to force the issue and take the shackles off at the Bernabeu; nobody doubts that when they do that, they can be devastating. However, if the Blues hit their counter-attacking best then they have a real chance of qualifying for their first ever Champions League final. It couldn’t be more in the balance.