We believe in the magic of Bernabeu: Karim Benzema-Carlo Ancelotti issue rallying cry after first leg defeat

Real Madrid on Tuesday did just about enough to keep their hopes alive, scoring three goals past City in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal.

Real Madrid's Karim Benzema and his coach Carlo Ancelotti have issued a rallying cry after their narrow defeat in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Benzema sounded confident after scoring a brace in the first leg of the tie and said that the fans should be ready to see something magical.

"I warn our fans to be ready to see something magical, we will win the second leg at Santiago Bernabeu," Reuters quoted Benzema as saying.

Real pulled back from a deficit of 2-0 twice in the game to ensure that they had done enough to bridge the gap going into the second leg of the semi-finals. They were lucky to be handed a penalty from Aymeric Laporte's handball in the 80th minute, from where Madrid got its third goal, and Benzema his second. Incidentally, he missed two penalties last weekend in LaLiga.

This was only the second time in the history of the Champions League that both sides had scored three or more goals in a Champions League semi-finals.

Speaking after the game, manager Carlo Ancelotti was critical of his squad stating that they needed to defend better against a fantastic Manchester City attack, but concluded that he was confident about winning the second league of the tie.

"Losing is never good and we care a lot about winning the Champions League this season. The thing is we never lowered our guard and kept fighting until the end," Ancelotti said.

"We are very confident and excited because we believe in the magic of the Bernabeu," the manager concluded.