Manchester City captain (left), in a tussle with Gareth Bale in their first semi-final march at the Etihad Stadium, yesterday<\/p><\/div>\n

Champions League top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo was a frustrated spectator as his Real Madrid side played out a slow-burning 0-0 draw at Manchester City in yesterday\u2019s semi-final first leg.
\nInjury prevented the Portuguese superstar from adding to his 16-goal tally and in his absence the visitors were unable to convert the handful of chances they created, with a sensational late Joe Hart save to deny Pepe the closest either side came to a goal at the Etihad Stadium.
\nAs an occasion, City\u2019s first semi-final appearance in the competition was a let-down, but by preventing Madrid from notching an away goal they safeguarded their hopes of reaching the final ahead of next week\u2019s return leg at the Bernabeu.
\nThere was concern, though, for Manuel Pellegrini\u2019s side in the shape of a first-half injury to Spanish playmaker David Silva, which leaves both him and Madrid counterpart Zinedine Zidane sweating on the fitness of key attackers going into the teams\u2019 reunion.
\nNeither fellow semi-finalists Bayern Munich nor Atletico Madrid, however, were given much to sweat about by the on-pitch fare.
\nCity\u2019s semi-final arrival was an event seven and a half years in the making for the club\u2019s Emirati owners and there was a carefully stage-managed attempt to generate an atmosphere prior to kick-off, with fans given blue and silver foil flags and a flurry of streamers greeting the teams.
\nThe star attraction, alas, was on the bench, glowering in a grey Real Madrid anorak. Ronaldo took his place among the visiting officials after failing a pre-match fitness test on a thigh strain.
\nCity seemed determine not to let their guests settle into a rhythm and with Fernandinho setting the tempo for their pressing, they did exactly that.
\nBut with neither side able to create any chances, the most notable act of the first half was the departure of Silva after he appeared to injure his thigh in a challenge on Gareth Bale that earned him a booking, which saw 19-year-old Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho join the fray.
\nMadrid striker Karim Benzema, a pre-match doubt with a knee problem, was replaced at half-time by Jese and despite the touchline exhortations of Zidane, who split his trousers for the second Champions League match running, his side could not find a breakthrough.
\nWhen they belatedly hit the target, Sergio Ramos hanging in the air to meet Toni Kroos\u2019s corner from the right with a firm header, Hart saved comfortably.
\nAnd when they conspired to beat Hart, Jese looping a header towards goal from Dani Carvajal\u2019s right-wing cross, the crossbar came to the England international\u2019s rescue.
\nCity started the second half with a left-foot sighter from Sergio Aguero that whistled over the bar, but they did not threaten again until a stoppage-time Kevin De Bruyne free-kick that Keylor Navas tipped over.
\nIn the minutes prior to that, the visitors had started to knock on the door.
\nAfter Bale had given City a scare by curling narrowly wide from the edge of the box, Hart produced two demonstrations of the razor-sharp reflexes that have come to his side\u2019s rescue so many times on big European nights.
\nFirst, he stuck out his left boot to deflect away a downward header from Casemiro and moments later a starfish-style block prevented Pepe from snatching a late winner from point-blank range.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Champions League top-scorer Cristiano Ronaldo was a frustrated spectator as his Real Madrid side played out a slow-burning 0-0 draw at Manchester City in yesterday\u2019s semi-final first leg. Injury prevented the Portuguese superstar from adding to his 16-goal tally and in his absence the visitors were unable to convert the handful of chances they created, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[26],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n