Top Winners and Losers After Tuesday's Champions League Semifinal Leg 1 Results
Well, that was fun.
Real Madrid and Manchester City played out an exciting 1-1 draw on Tuesday in their Champions League semifinal first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, setting up a second leg eight days from now in Manchester with the tie very much in the balance.
Below, we'll break down the day's winners and losers.
Winner: Vinícius Jr.
It took Real Madrid 35 minutes to get off a shot in this game. Given that context, the effort provided by Vinícius Jr. was like Leonardo da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa the first time he picked up a brush.
OK, that might be a touch of hyperbole. But it was still a beautiful effort, and footy Twitter was loving it:
Vini Jr. is developing a habit for coming up with huge goals in big games for Real Madrid, and at just 22 years of age is emerging as one of the world's most exciting and dominant players.
If Real Madrid is going to advance to the final and get through a tough second leg in Manchester, he'll need to come up clutch. Don't bet against him.
Loser: The Star Strikers
Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and Manchester City's Erling Haaland are two of the most prolific goal-scorers in the history of the Champions League.
That isn't hyperbole—Benzema is fourth all-time with 90 UCL goals, while Haaland is only 22 years old and already has 35 goals in the competition, tied for 21st all-time. There's little doubt he'll be near the top of the list by the end of his career, if not atop it.
But neither could provide the crucial moment for their respective side on Tuesday, a bit of a surprise.
It's been a bit of a head-scratching theme for Benzema this season in general, who provided 15 UCL goals in last year's run to a European title but has just four this season. Haaland has been far more clinical, with 12 UCL goals, but on Tuesday the back of the net eluded him.
It's likely that one of these players, if not both, will play a huge role in the second leg. But on Tuesday, their impact was muted, a rarity for the dynamic pair.
Winner: Kevin De Bruyne
Kevin De Bruyne saw Vini Jr.'s effort and said, "Hey, I can do that too."
And so he did. Call it his Sistine Chapel ceiling:
Again, footy Twitter was mesmerized:
Because City has Haaland and mountains of expensive talents across the roster and, oh yeah, one of the most distinguished managers in history on the touch line in Pep Guardiola, it can be easy to forget just how incredible KDB is as a player.
But few players alive, if any, offer his consistent playmaking, finishing and general attacking pedigree. It's hard to pinpoint a major weakness in his game. In a game full of astonishing star power, he was the best player on the pitch.
And now he has City one match away from potentially, and finally, ripping the Real Madrid-sized monkey off its UCL back.
Loser: Real Madrid's Title Defense
It's hard to knock a team for stepping toe-to-toe with City and coming away with a 1-1 draw. Real Madrid was hardly poor on Tuesday.
But this was also Los Blancos' home leg, and they failed to leave with an advantage in aggregate. Traveling to Manchester against a City side desperate to finally earn a UCL title is a huge ask.
Remember, City hasn't lost to Real Madrid in four UCL home games over the past 11 years, with two wins and two draws. And this particular City team feels more formidable than in years past, with the inevitable Haaland leading the line.
So the odds are stacked against the defending champions. This wasn't a poor result, but it was hardly an ideal one.
