Manchester City Blow Real Madrid Wide Open With Two Goals Inside 11 Minutes

Manchester City made the perfect start to their Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid, scoring twice inside the first 11 minutes at the Etihad.

City began the match a frightening pace and took the lead inside two minutes.

Riyad Mahrez cut inside from the right wing before playing a perfect cross to Kevin De Bruyne inside the area.

De Bruyne then managed to direct a header past his Belgium international teammate Thibaut Courtois to put the home side ahead.

The opener, which came just one minute 34 seconds into the match, was the fastest ever goal in a Champions League semi-final.

It got even better for City in the 11^th minute of the match, with De Bruyne again heavily involved.

He picked up the ball on the left wing before crossing into the area, where Gabriel Jesus was waiting.

The Brazilian controlled the ball with his first touch deceiving Real Madrid defender David Alaba.

After finding himself one-on-one with Courtois, Jesus made no mistake with the finish to double City's lead.

Madrid continued to look extremely vulnerable without the usual midfield cover of Casemiro, who was only fit enough to be named on the bench because of a muscle issue.

City wasted an opportunity to increase their lead in the 25^th minute when Mahrez fired into the side netting instead of squaring the ball to Phil Foden.

And minutes later, Foden fired narrowly wide when played through on goal himself.

City were made to pay for their wastefulness later in the half when Karim Benzema pulled one back for Madrid with an instinctive first-time finish - his 40th goal of the season in all competitions.