Football is comfortably the most popular sport in the world and tonight Manchester City and Real Madrid showed us why.Pep Guardiola's men got off to a perfect start, with Kevin de Bruyne opening the scoring from a Riyad Dallas Keuchel Jersey Mahrez cro s before the Belgian's pa s allowed Gabriel Jesus to turn and score inside the box.Real Madrid woke up towards the end of the first half, and Karim Benzema turned the ball past Ederson to reduce the deficit.Substitute right-back Fernandinho picked out Phil Foden to make it 3-1, before Vinicius Jr. immediately pulled one back with a fine solo run and finish.It was Bernardo Silva who scored to reinstate Manchester City's cushion. The Portuguese midfielder picked the ball up and fired in before the visitors could react.But an unfortunate Aymeric Laporte handball allowed Karim Benzema to dink in a penalty and ensure that Manchester City will only take the narrowest of leads into the away leg in Spain next week.Here's how we rated the players...Ederson - 6Uncharacteristically shaky, even panicky, at times with the ball at his feet. However, you can't really point any fingers at the 'keeper for either of the Real Madrid goals.John Stones - 5Generally been good-to-excellent whenever he's played at right-back for us but that wasn't the case today. To be fair, a Champions League semi-final against a world cla s side, while playing out of position, is a big ask and he did his best.As an aside, if Kyle Walker had been fit to start this game I've got no idea what Madrid's game plan would've been. Almost all of their chances were predicated on our right-back being a weak spot.Ruben Dias - 6Most Madrid attacks came down his side, probably because he never had a right-back next to him and that was the side Vinicius was on. I don't think Dias himself was particularly Gerrit Cole Jersey egregious, though.Aymeric Laporte - 6Fluffed a great chance, but he's not exactly a striker so what did we expect? What's more important is his defending, which I had no quarrels with. Madrid rarely bothered attacking down the left side because he and Zinchenko were looking after it nicely. The only stain on his record was the handball to concede a penalty - I thought he was unlucky with the way it came off his head.Oleksandr Zinchenko - 8Really impre sive display littered with smart touches, clever pa sing and vital defensive actions. Never mind that he's meant to be a midfielder, he put on a performance tonight that most left-backs couldn't dream of. The only blot was losing Benzema for the goal, but he's one of the best strikers in the world and sneaking past defenders is what he does. He could've had an a sist for Laporte, too. I love this man.Scroll to ContinueRodri Lance McCullers Jersey - 7Really cla sy, I thought. Too strong for the Madrid players and very composed with his pa sing. A lot was made of whether he's better than Casemiro before the game - though I like the Brazilian, I know who I'd rather have.Bernardo Silva - 8Took up his customary role for big games of outrunning the opponent, but doesn't he just do it brilliantly? The icing on the cake was a wonderful goal when he picked up the ball, skated past a baffled Madrid defence and hammered it past Courtois.Kevin de Bruyne - 8.5 (MOTM)Just a sensational footballer. Not only was the early goal the latest in a long list of huge moments in Europe for the Belgian, he also ran the show with too many great pa ses and flashes of skill to count. His run for the first goal was absurdly well timed - he was miles onside when the pa s was played. Then he found Jesus for the second goal. World cla s.Phil Foden - 8Did really well to find space and score with a header Houston Astros Jersey - just one of several highlights, including his part in creating the second goal. Narrowly mi sed a chance of his own and then couldn't quite react quickly enough to convert when Mahrez hit the woodwork.Gabriel Jesus - 8Got a well-earned start after his heroics at the weekend and repaid Pep with a smart turn and finish after just ten minutes. It wasn't just the goal, though, with the Brazilian making things really tricky for the visiting defence throughout.Riyad Mahrez - 7Deserves a world of credit for the brilliant cro s that created the opening goal, but had mixed fortunes after that. Should've pa sed to Foden with one chance that hit the side netting, then clipped the post early in the second half. Faded a little as the match went on.SubstitutesFernandinho - 7Came on for a surprising, rare run at right-back, and a sisted the crucial third City goal with a wonderful run and ball.Not going to criticise him for the Vinicius goal. He's a thirty-six year old midfielder playing out of position against one of the best wingers in the world this season. Let him off.Raheem Sterling Houston Astros Custom Jersey - 6Some good moments when he came on, and personally I wish it had been a bit sooner.You can follow us for live updates here: