Mahrez delivered a great cross and De Bruyne opened the scoring in less than 120 seconds

The Etihad Stadium hosted the first leg on Tuesday as Manchester City and Real Madrid went head-to-head for a place in the final of the Champions League 21-22. The English side struck first when the crowd had barely sat down in their seats.

Pep Guardiola's side were 1-0 up before the first 120 seconds were up. The Mahrez-De Bruyne connection paid off with the home side's first attempt.

The winger faced up and cut inside for his left-footed ball into the heart of the box and the Belgian, diving low, went all out and slammed the ball past Thibaut Courtois and into the back of the net.

Manchester City began with their foot on the accelerator as they sought their second successive final and redemption for last year's loss to Chelsea, knocked out in the quarter-finals by Madrid.