Man City: Cheerful or fearful?

Joe Hart’s second-half heroics saved Manchester City on Tuesday night but Real Madrid have a formidable home record in Europe. With the Champions League semi-final in the balance, we look at City’s reasons for hope – and caution…

“We couldn’t have wished for more at this stage,” said City’s Vincent Kompany after Tuesday’s goalless draw at the Etihad.

Los Blancos might have failed to score an away goal but could they have injured Cristiano Ronaldo back as they look to extend a remarkable second-leg record in Europe?

Here, we look at some key reason why Manchester City should be cheerful – and fearful – ahead of next Wednesday’s decider…

Hart the Hero

Where better to start than Joe Hart, whose second-half heroics single-handedly kept City’s hopes alive. Make no mistake, if he hadn’t prevented Pepe from netting late on, Manchester City’s chances of making the final would be all-but-over before they had even stepped foot on their plane to Madrid.

He is surely one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and is capable of making the kind of reaction save that will keep City in any match. The mark of a great goalkeeper is being able to pull out a world-class stop after a long period of inactivity, and he did exactly that on Tuesday night.

Despite being a spectator for much of the tie, Hart was there when he was called upon, and he will be vital in the second leg too.

Ronaldo not ready

Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence from the first leg was announced as he sat in the away dugout at the Etihad, wearing CR7-branded shoes and shiny gold headphones. While he appeared relaxed, Zinedine Zidane may have felt slightly differently knowing his star man was missing Madrid’s biggest game of the season so far.

In fact, Real Madrid have won just 43 per cent of their Champions League matches without him since 2009/10, while his inclusion in their starting XI has yielded a 71 per …

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