Man City made an unbelievable comeback in the last five minutes despite being one man down

*Goals: Bentaleb 38' ​​45' - Aguero 18', Sane 85', Sterling 90'.

Playing away from home, it was no surprise that Man City completely dominated a team that has been playing very poorly this season. The English representative continuously created sieges after the opening whistle and Sergio Aguero soon tested goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann with a tricky header.

Kevin De Bruyne threatened the Schalke goal with his signature long-range left-footed strike, which found Faehrmann. The home side set up in a 5-4-1 formation, with Mark Uth up front. But their solid play was ruined by Salif Sane's mistake. The centre-back fumbled, allowing David Silva to steal the ball and pass it to Aguero, who tapped it into an empty net.

Schalke didn't have many attacking chances and their most notable move was Uth's left-footed curler that went wide of the post on a counter-attack. However, the Germans surprisingly equalised after being awarded a penalty. Nicolas Otamendi used his hand to block Daniel Caligiuri's shot and from the 11m mark, Nabil Bentaleb fooled goalkeeper Ederson.

Before and after the goal, Man City had a few chances but they were not clear. The surprise happened at the end of the first half. Fernandinho pulled down Salif Sane in a free kick and the referee did not need VAR technology to award Schalke a second penalty. Bentaleb continued to successfully take it, putting the home team ahead.

Coming into the game as 14th in the Bundesliga, Schalke fought hard to take a first-half lead. However, at that time, few believed the Germans would be able to withstand the onslaught of Pep Guardiola's side, despite the home crowd's support. This season, Schalke's defence has often made mistakes such as the opening goal, while Man City have been very good at punishing their opponents.

But the opposite scenario happened. De Bruyne was caught out in the early minutes of the second half and was lucky to avoid conceding a goal from the midfielder, but the Schalke defence fought hard in the remaining minutes to stop the City players' speedy runs. The home team's five defenders, with Sane playing the deepest, kept Aguero at bay and limited the danger of his crosses by anticipating the City midfielders' runs.

Things got tougher for City when centre-back Nicolas Otamendi was booked for a second yellow card after illegally tackling Guido Burgstaller to stop a counter-attack. The English side showed signs of mental strain after being downed. Their attacks were stale and often ended with a shot from outside the box.

However, Man City showed character when defeat was imminent and the man who shone to bring them victory was Raheem Sterling. His dribble brought a free kick from 25m and Leroy Sane performed a skillful curling kick to help Man City equalise. After scoring, Sane refused to celebrate out of respect for Schalke - the team he played for from 2014 to 2016.

The drama didn't stop there. Sterling proved he is the player who can create the most emotional moments at Man City at the moment with the goal that sealed a 3-2 victory for his team. Using his speed and intelligence to get past the Schalke defender before beating Faehrmann with a decisive shot from a tight angle, Sterling gave the English representative a huge advantage in the second leg.

Line-up of both teams:

Schalke: Faehrmann;Caligiuri, Bruma, Sané, Nastasic, Oczipka; Serdar, Bentaleb, McKennie (Skrzybski 77'); Uth (Harit 88'), Mendyl (Burgstaller 65').

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Laporte; Gundogan, De Bruyne (Zinchenko 87'), D Silva (Kompany 70'); B Silva, Aguero (Sane 78'), Sterling.