Alan Shearer surprised by ‘sheer conceitedness and audacity’ of Karim Benzema in Man Metropolis defeat

Both teams played out a thrilling Champions League semi-final first leg with City edging a 4-3 win over the visitors at the Etihad courtesy of goals from Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva.

But Real Madrid are still very much in the tie thanks to star man Benzema who bagged either side of Vinicius Junior’s strike.

Benzema’s second goal was a delightful Panenka down the middle and with the Frenchman missing four penalties already this season, three this month, Newcastle legend Shearer couldn’t believe how well he handled the pressure.

‘After missing three penalties this month… That’s all I can do is chuckle and think “I cannot believe Karim Benzema has just done that,”‘ he told BBC.

‘The sheer arrogance of it but also the belief and the ability to do that. He seems to be getting better and better.

‘The sheer audacity! It was incredible.

‘How many has Karim Benzema scored this season? 41 goals… staggering.’

City will hope they don’t come to rue their missed chances at the Etihad when it comes to the outcome of both legs with the home side dominating for large parts of the game.

Silva admitted his team should have put the match to bed in the first half but is proud of their efforts against the European giants.

‘I honestly think for the first 20 minutes we were so, so good. The way we pressed, the way we controlled the game and created chances,’ he said.

‘Over the 90 minutes it felt like we could have won by a better score. Unfortunately we were not able to take advantage of our two-goal differences that we had three times.

‘It is the Champions League, we play one of the best teams in the world. It is still a good result. On to the next game.

‘It was a good game. Our fans should be proud of us and the work we did. We could have scored more but this football. They took their chances.

‘The penalty came out of nowhere. We were controlling the game. We were a bit unlucky.’

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