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Bengaluru, May 3: After a thrilling first leg, football fans can brace themselves for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League with Villarreal hosting Liverpool and Real Madrid hosting Manchester City.

Manchester City and Real Madrid provided football fans with one of the most exciting Champions League knockout round matchups in recent memory, from the second minute to the very last.

The seven-goal showstopper ended with Manchester City topping Real Madrid 4-3.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES | RESULTS

Fans can expect even more fireworks when the clubs head back to Madrid, which will decide who goes to the Champions League final in Paris on May 28.

On the other hand, Liverpool, who are still chasing a record quadruple of major trophies, proved to be a more difficult opponent.

On another night, when they were carried along by the might of Anfield, the six-time European winners steadily demolished Villarreal's modest assault.

Liverpool will take a two-goal advantage over the Yellow Submarine going into the second leg.

It will be intriguing to see who wins and if the final will be all-English or all-Spanish or once again an English-Spanish one.

Former England goalkeeper David James had recently picked his favourites for the final of Europe's premier club competition.

Ahead of the second-leg semifinals, here is a sneak preview of both the games.

Villarreal vs Liverpool

Liverpool could have been out of sight before half-time in a characteristically dominant display. The Reds went up a gear in the second period and two goals in three minutes soon after the restart confirmed their ascendancy.

First Jordan Henderson's cross ballooned into the net via a deflection off Pervis Estupinan before Sadio Mané latched on to Mohamed Salah's cute through ball to make it 2-0. From then on it was damage limitation for Villarreal.

Emery's men put up a brave fight, but eventually succumbed to a determined Liverpool and it maintained a poor record for Villarreal in England. Since a 2-1 victory on Merseyside against Everton in August 2005, Villarreal have not managed to win any of their last nine away games in England in all competitions.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City

Real Madrid looked all at sea after Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus put the hosts 2-0 up inside 11 minutes, and though the ever-reliable Karim Benzema pulled one back before the break, Phil Foden's header restored City's two-goal lead.

Vinicius Junior responded quickly, though, and while a fine Bernardo Silva strike made it 4-2 on the night, a Panenka-style Benzema penalty took him to the top of this season's scorers rankings and left Carlo Ancelotti's side with just a one-goal deficit to overturn.

Where to watch

The football fans in India can get ready to watch the clash of Europe's finest four teams as they compete for a spot in the finale with Sony Sports Network, who have the official broadcasting rights of Champions League in India.

May 4, Wednesday, 12.30 am IST

Villarreal vs Liverpool

LIVE on SONY TEN 2 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels

May 5, Thursday, 12.30am IST

Real Madrid vs Manchester City

LIVE on SONY TEN 2 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) & SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels

(Source: Sony Sports Network/UEFA Media)