The ball was there to hit and how Kevin De Bruyne hit it. It was midway through the second half, Manchester City were behind to Vinícius Júnior’s sumptuous 36th-minute blast and the feeling was starting to take hold that Real Madrid had this Champions League semi-final, first leg under control.
For City, the demons circled at the venue where it had gone so horribly wrong in the second leg of last season’s semi-final; the collapse at the end of normal time, two goals shipped after the 90th minute, then Madrid’s extra-time winner.
