Manchester City Vs Real Madrid: Fantastic Karim Benzema Keeps UEFA Champions League Semi-final Tie Alive

It was the coolest of penalties at the end of one of the wildest matches in Champions League history. (More Football News)

With his cheekily dispatched 바카라�Panenka,바카라� Karim Benzema might just have kept Real Madrid바카라�s chances alive against Manchester City in the semifinals.

City won a breathless first-leg match 4-3 at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday but squandered so many chances in an end-to-end, basketball-style epic that it hardly felt like a victory for the English club.

바카라�We could have killed them off,바카라� said Phil Foden, one of City바카라�s four scorers in a game that had pretty much everything.

City built a two-goal lead three times but just couldn바카라�t shake off Madrid, the kings of the competition 바카라� as City manager Pep Guardiola calls them.

So it felt inevitable that when Aymeric Laporte gave away a penalty with 10 minutes remaining, Madrid wouldn바카라�t waste the opportunity to return to Santiago Bernabeu for next week바카라�s second leg with, somehow, only a one-goal deficit.

Just when many inside the stadium were losing their heads, Benzema kept his, chipping the ball high and straight down the middle before wheeling away in front of Madrid바카라�s jubilant fans with his arms outstretched.

바카라�The most important thing is we never lay down our arms,바카라� Benzema said. 바카라�We are all in this until the end.바카라�

With the France striker in its team, Madrid will never lose hope.

His double here 바카라� after back-to-back hat tricks earlier in the knockout stage 바카라� took his total in the Champions League this season to a competition-high 14 goals. Benzema now has 41 goals in all competitions in the most prolific season of his career.

Without him, Madrid probably would not be still in with a chance of a record-extending 14th European Cup title.

바카라�Madrid is just Madrid,바카라� Guardiola said. 바카라�It doesn바카라�t matter if you are one goal, two goals or three goals ahead.바카라�

Guardiola didn바카라�t have a bad word to say about his team, though. 바카라�Exceptional바카라� was his verdict.

But he surely knows City should be out of sight and already preparing for a second straight appearance in the final and the chance to avenge last year바카라�s loss to Chelsea.

The English champions led 2-0 after 11 minutes, with Kevin De Bruyne making a late run into the box to head home Riyad Mahrez바카라�s cross and Gabriel Jesus 바카라� retained in the team after scoring four goals against Watford in the Premier League on Saturday 바카라� producing a coolly taken finish after spinning David Alaba following De Bruyne바카라�s cross.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti lost 5-0 on his previous visit to the Etihad 바카라� with Everton on the final day of last season바카라�s Premier League 바카라� and City looked like scoring just as many, if not more.

With Madrid fielding a ball-playing midfield 바카라� of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde 바카라� that lacked the bite of injured Casemiro, City cut through the visitors at will and should have been further clear before Benzema steered a volley in off the post from Ferland Mendy바카라�s cross in the 33rd.

Riyad Mahrez wasted gilt-edged chances either side of Benzema바카라�s goal to leave Guardiola enraged on the sideline, the first in the 26th when he swung wildly when one-on-one with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and hit the sidenetting, and then just after the restart when he raced through again and curled against the post.

It would have come as a relief to Mahrez that Foden restored City바카라�s two-goal lead in the 53rd, heading home a cross from the overlapping Fernandinho 바카라� the 36-year-old club captain who went on at right back for the injured John Stones near the end of the first half.

Back came Madrid two minutes later, with Vinicius Junior turning Fernandinho 바카라� showing his fallibility in an unfamiliar position 바카라� near the halfway line and sprinting down the left before cutting in and placing a shot beyond Ederson. Laporte chose not to close down Vinicius, instead covering the potential cross into a middle, though that wouldn바카라�t be his biggest mistake of the night.

The chances kept coming, mostly for City, before Bernardo Silva curled a rising shot inside the near post after quick-witted referee Istvan Kovacs decided to play the advantage following a foul on Oleksandr Zinchenko outside the area.

Benzema had the final say, however, like he has so many times in this season바카라�s competition, and Madrid has renewed belief of reaching a first final since 2018.

바카라�It is a defeat,바카라� Ancelotti said, 바카라�that leaves us alive in the second leg.바카라�