Two strikes from Vinicius Jnr. was enough to give Madrid the victory at Alfred Di Stefano stadium in the Spanish capital, as Marco Asensio added one to seal the victory with a two-goal cushion into the second leg. At 2-1, Liverpool's Mohammed Salah pulled one back, but it wasn't enough, in the tight encounter.
A fine display in the first half led to Madrid's opener in the 27th minute, after Toni Kroos lofted pass found Vinicius, who slotted home calmly against Brazilian, Allison Becker. An error from Liverpool's fullback, Trent Alexander-Arnold, gave room for Marco Asensio to bury the ball in the net again, in less than 10 minutes from the opener from Vinicius. Trent Arnold saw his header fall on the part of Real Madrid's Asensio, who calmly slotted home in the 36th minute.
Heading into the second half with two goals down, Jurgen Klopp replaced Naby Keita with Thiago Alcantara in the 41st minute. Early in the second half, Mohammed Salah scored a goal for Liverpool, but Vinicius Jnr. struck again to give Real Madrid a two goals lead into the second leg.
:focal(1002x393:1004x391)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2021/04/06/3024594-62047608-2560-1440.jpg)
Liverpool will be hoping for a comeback as they did two years ago, in the Semi-final match against another Spanish side, Barcelona. After suffering a 3 nil defeat at Camp Nou, they returned to England and thrash Lionel Messi-led Barcelona side 4-0 to advance to the final. It was an all-English side final, where they defeated Tottenham.
Man. City 2 Borussia Dortmund 1
Phil Foden's 90th-minute strike ensured Man. City wins at home to the German side.
Kevin De Bruyne had put the citizens ahead in the 19th minutes, some minutes after Jude Bellingham had been adjudged to have fouled City's goalkeeper, Ederson, before seeing his goal disallowed by the referee.
Marco Reus had thought he secured a point for the German side, in the 84th minutes, but the 17-year old English midfielder ensured Borussia Dortmund go back to Germany with a defeat.