Cats have nine lives

Real Madrid survived an all-out war at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City's every blow was answered by Real Madrid, especially by Karim Benzema, who is knocking down the door to the Ballon d'Or.

There aren't teams in the world who have a greater love affair with the Champions League than Real Madrid. Real Madrid are the absolute dominators of the competition, and they don't need to play well to stay alive.

Under normal conditions, against another team, Manchester City would have settled the semi-final tie at the Etihad. But not against Madrid, against Madrid, despite winning the match, the winner was the Spanish team...

But Real Madrid have more lives than a cat in the Champions League. They already came close to being eliminated against Paris Saint-Germain. They also played on the edge against Chelsea, and again against City, they played with fire.