In a heated duel, hosts Manchester City decisively adopted a 433 formation, starting strongly with De Bruyne, Jesus, Ederson and Foden. Mahrez, Rodriguez, Laporte, Zinchenko also got a start, Stones, Diaz, Bernardo Silva also appeared together. Similarly, Real Madrid played a 433 formation with Benzema, Kroos, Modric and Courtois leading the way, while Vinicius, Rodrigo, Valverde and Alaba also got a start, along with Ferran Mendy, Militão and Carvajal. At the beginning of the game, only 1 minute and a half, Mahrez cleverly got rid of two defenders, picked the pass in front of the goal, De Bruyne quickly back into the back, dive to the top, City scored a lightning, a dream start.
In the 10th minute and a half, De Bruyne crossed the ball and Jesus pushed it in after stopping the ball to extend City's advantage with two goals in just nine minutes.
In the 32nd minute, Ferran Mendy's big kick swung into the box and Benzema fired a shot from the end of the air to bring Real Madrid back to within a goal, and Benzema surpassed Levin to top the Champions League scoring charts.
In the 36th minute, Stones was injured and Fernandinho replaced him. In the second half, Nacho replaced Alaba, and in the 47th minute, Mahrez hit the post with a one-two, and Foden's shot was blocked as Real Madrid nearly conceded.
City took the lead again in the 52nd minute when Mendy's pass was broken up and Fernandinho made a wild run to the byline and picked out a cross into the box that Foden raced through to score.
In the 54th minute, Real Madrid pulled a goal back when Vinicius rode solo and fired a low shot.
City went ahead again in the 73rd minute when Bernardo Silva blasted a shot into the back of the net.
In the 80th minute, Laporte's handball in the penalty area gave Real Madrid a penalty kick, and Benzema scored with a spoon to take sole possession of the top scorer's list.
In the end, City turned back Real Madrid 4-3 at home to take the lead, but their record of four consecutive Champions League matches without a shutout was broken.
